Cat's Shadow
by FluffPuffCat
Summary: Atsushi receives a surprising new neighbour.
1. Chapter 1

Paperwork was the least fun part about working at the Armed Detective Agency. Nothing killed Atsushi's weekend like making reports, and after a few hours of mind-numbing writing, he wondered if he wouldn't rather go out to hunt some Port Mafia goons, perhaps losing a limb or two in the process. Even that seemed more fun than sitting at his desk slaving away at a report about the latest mystery the Agency had solved.

Since the defeat of the Guild, things in Yokohama had calmed down. The city was peaceful, or at least as peaceful as it could be under the watchful eyes of the Port Mafia. At least there weren't any airships threatening to fall from the sky and flatten the city. The apartment in which he lived was in a quiet neighbourhood where not much happened, so waiting for excitement to come to him wasn't something he had much hope for.

He was about to finish the first half of the new report he was working on when something caught his eye. Looking out the window at the balcony outside, he saw something dark move just out of the edge of his vision, followed by the sound of a door closing.

This was probably one of Dazai's pranks again.

But it didn't explain the chills that were going down his spine, or the strange feeling that something malevolent had moved horribly close to him. He looked around the walls of his room, searching for the source of that feeling. Sure enough, he felt something coming from the left wall, a wall that connected to the apartment just beside his on the same floor. He raised an eye.

Something dark shifted along the balcony and lingered near his room's window. Atsushi stood up from his seat and moved towards the window to observe it, but it disappeared as soon as he got to his feet.

Atsushi blinked several times in a row, wondering if he was just imagining things. Only a few days had passed, after all, since Dazai brought Q back to the Agency. Maybe that child's spooky little ability still had somewhat of an effect from him.

Throughout the afternoon, as he worked, he repeatedly caught flashes of darkness moving across the balcony outside, including one time where he thought it was directly watching him through the window. Every time he glanced towards the window, it disappeared, and the only thing he saw was a blue sky gradually turning more and more red as his precious weekend slaved away to the urgency of his report. That feeling of some dark, malicious aura coming from the wall to his left didn't go away, either. By the time evening came, he determined to get to the bottom of it.

Atsushi walked out of his room and approached his neighbour's door with the quiet stalk of a cat. He wondered if someone new had just moved in next door. What kind of person would exude this kind of aura? There was only one way to find out.

He knocked on the door.

When no reply came after about a minute, Atsushi sighed and turned to leave. However, he stopped when he heard footsteps approaching the door. The door creaked open a moment later, revealing a pale face and long black hair tipped with grey.

"Akutagawa!?"

Instantly, his body tensed, ready to fight to defend himself. But the expression on Akutagawa's face was as shocked as his was.

"Just my luck," Akutagawa said in a low voice. "Of course the person I move next to ends up being the weretiger."

"Why did you move here?"

"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, weretiger." Akutagawa looked like he was about to shut the door on Atsushi's face, but something stopped his hand. He stared defiantly at Atsushi. "Just because we combined our powers to beat money boy back on top his airship doesn't mean I care one bit about you. Are we clear on that?"

"Then why did I see you looking through my window all afternoon?" Atsushi felt his face growing hot. "Uh, I mean, that was you, wasn't it?"

Akutagawa was caught off guard. "You saw that?"

"Kind of hard to miss your black cloak passing by my window every couple of minutes. And what's with that aura? It's like I can feel your ability through the walls!"

"That's the nature of Rashomon. It devours space – or don't you remember, from the time we last fought?" An evil grin came over Akutagawa's face. "Do you need another demonstration?"

"I can take you on, no problem – but I have a report to finish." Hearing himself say that sentence made Atsushi's head swirl as he realized the depths of Agency bureaucracy. "But, please, can't you lower your aura a little? I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight if I can feel Rashomon through the walls!"

"What part of 'I don't care one bit about you' do you not understand, weretiger?" Writhing black blades materialized along the edges of his coat. "Now that I know how you feel about my aura, I'm almost delighted to spread my ability towards your room. Who knows? Perhaps I'll pierce your heart in the middle of the night."

Atsushi ground his teeth in frustration. "Akutagawa! I won't stand having you as my neighbour if you're going to be such a massive nuisance." He raised his fist and felt the powers of his tiger growing within him.

It suddenly dawned on him that Akutagawa would most certainly not have moved into a tiny apartment room in some random neighbourhood of Yokohama of his own volition, even if the Port Mafia forced him. One particular name was plastered all over this incident. Only a single man could have influenced Akutagawa to do something as unappealing as moving in beside Atsushi.

Dazai was certainly behind this. And it was probably a test of sorts, for both of them.

"You want to fight?" Red lightning crackled over Akutagawa's coat. "Bring it on."

Atsushi lowered his fist. "Dazai made you do this, didn't you?"

Akutagawa's eyes bulged, and his mouth twisted into a grimace. "Don't underestimate me, weretiger. Regardless of who made me move next to you, I'm not afraid of killing you if given the opportunity."

"You can't," Atsushi said. "You can't defeat me."

"Are you trying me?"

Atsushi backed away and leaned against the railing of the balcony. He put on his most nonchalant face as he realized that Akutagawa was really just like a rabid dog. A dog with a bad temper, but one that was most definitely subservient to its master. And his master had never changed.

"Akutagawa," Atsushi began, "if we're going to be living beside each other from now on, we should learn to make each others' lives easier. If you promise not to encroach on my room with your ability, I'll give you something that you want – say, a one-on-one duel with me. How does that sound?"

"You think I'll agree to any deal YOU propose?"

"Why not? What is the point of spreading your black tentacles all over my living space, anyway? You want to come in so much?"

The veins on Akutagawa's face were becoming clearly visible.

To Atsushi's surprise, now that he was able to get a closer look at Akutagawa without them jumping at each other's throats, he realized that Akutagawa wasn't actually so bad looking. A bit lean, rather pale, edgy collarbones...but kind of handsome, too.

Wait. Did he really just think his mortal enemy was handsome?

"You seemed to be looking at me through my window all afternoon, too," Atsushi continued. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were into me, or something."

Two rough hands grabbed Atsushi's shoulders and pinned him against the wall. Deadly black blades sprung out of Akutagawa's coat and leered over his head.

"You're truly testing my patience," Akutagawa seethed. "I don't care what Dazai said. I'll kill you right now!"

There was such a rabid dog look in Akutagawa's eyes, a look that seemed to be begging for acceptance. A look that Atsushi almost felt sorry for.

"If you kill me now, you'll never be accepted by Dazai."

"I don't care about Dazai!"

"Oh, really? Then why don't you just move out of here right now? Isn't Dazai the only reason you're here?"

Akutagawa's eyes twitched. To Atsushi's surprise, his coat relaxed, and the blades hanging over his head reclined. But Akutagawa still held him by the shoulders.

"He wants us to train together," Akutagawa said, lowering his head. His voice dimmed and almost became choked. "He believes only when we work together can we achieve our full prowess. Our battle against Fitzgerald confirmed it, in his eyes."

"I see. Well, we can do that later. I have a report to finish–"

"Don't think for a second that I'm going to show you mercy!" Akutagawa shouted. "When we fight, I'll crush your bones and break your limbs. You'll whimper at my feet and beg for death. But I know about that regeneration ability of yours, so I'll just keep breaking you more – I'll break you and break you and break you until you don't have a bone left in your body to fight!"

Unpleasant images flashed through Atsushi's mind of his last fight against Akutagawa. At the same time, the desperation in Akutagawa's voice was almost heartbreaking. For the first time, Atsushi felt bad about being chosen to be Dazai's disciple. He was the one person standing in Akutagawa's way of validation from Dazai, which was the only thing the man had ever wanted.

He felt his shoulders being squeezed by Akutagawa's pale, bony hands, which were turning white.

"You'll never be accepted by Dazai if you do that," Atsushi said, swallowing his own fear and self-doubt. "That probably isn't what Dazai sent you here to do to me."

"Shut up!"

"Listen to me, Akutagawa. I don't want you to feel mad at me all the time. If I could, I'd make Dazai tell you that he accepts you. Everyone deserves validation. No one deserves to be beaten down and told that they're worth nothing, that they're worth less than the dirt beneath their boot..." Atsushi shut his eyes and raised his hand to gently grasp Akutagawa's wrist. "You know what? I accept you, Akutagawa. Even if Dazai doesn't – even if no one else does. I accept you. You were a great help to me in the battle against the Guild, and if I hadn't met you, I'd never have known that there was someone else like me, someone who craved validation, someone who just wanted to hear the words: 'you deserve to live, and nothing can ever take that away from you'. Because I met you, I realized I wasn't alone."

"SHUT UP!"

To Atsushi's surprise, Akutagawa finally let go of him. Akutagawa staggered back against the railing, and Rashomon disappeared back into his coat. His eyes were wide, his hands shaking. A bead of sweat rolled down his face.

"Akutagawa. You've been so hurt." Slowly, Atsushi approached him. "I don't want you to be hurt anymore, because if that was all you ever felt, you'd only resent me. Since we're going to be training together from now on, I want that we see each other as equals."

"You aren't my equal, weretiger."

"No. But if you accept yourself, you'll be."

Akutagawa closed his eyes and lowered his face. For a couple of minutes, he remained still, silent. Atsushi wondered if he had finally made the man snap. He approached Akutagawa slowly, without any sign of enmity, if only so that he could show that his arms were open. He had meant what he said – he'd accept Akutagawa even if no one else accepted him.

The truth was, he never wanted Akutagawa to be his enemy. They were both Dazai's disciples, and to have that under their names, their hearts had to be good.

"Atsushi," Akutagawa said at last.

The sound of his name being spoken by Akutagawa for the first time made Atsushi's heart leap.

"Go write your report," Akutagawa said, before promptly retreating back into his apartment and slamming the door shut, leaving Atsushi standing alone on the balcony, feeling a little confused.

Later that night, Atsushi received the creepy feeling of being watched by a certain fabric-of-space-devouring coat again. He wondered if that man could even shut off his aura. Maybe it really was all-consuming.

Shivers went down his spine when dark, creeping shadows streaked with red began to cover his window.

"Akutagawa!"

Atsushi stomped towards the door and opened it to find Akutagawa standing before him. Akutagawa's eyes were red, as if he had been crying, and his face looked even paler and sulkier than before. Atsushi couldn't help but feel a sudden wave of sympathy for him. And what sharp collarbones he had...

Black tentacles slithered into Atsushi's room, uninvited. Or, maybe, they were...?

"Atsushi," Akutagawa spoke up. "If you're done your report, we'll begin our training tomorrow. Maybe I won't break your bones, but I'll fight you with my hardest. Don't disappoint me, weretiger."

"Okay. But, could you still try to do something about your spooky aura? And what is it with Rashomon creeping all over my walls – and in my room!"

"Can't be helped."

"What are you talking about? You can definitely control your black tentacle things – look, I've seen you do it before! Don't lie to me, Akutagawa!"

Atsushi found himself staring into Akutagawa's eyes. There was a curious glint in those grey orbs – or was it the moonlight?

Akutagawa leaned towards him. "I've never noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"Those eyes of yours. Were they always that colour?"

Atsushi felt his cheeks glowing with warmth. "Wh-what? You mean, purple and gold?"

"What else? Really alluring, under the moonlight."

"Akutagawa...?"

"I saw your kindness in your eyes, earlier today. They really are quite beautiful, you know."

Atsushi couldn't even react before he felt Akutagawa's lips pressing against his own. His eyes grew wide.

Akutagawa's mouth was warm and felt surprisingly good to kiss. He sank into those wet lips, feeling his body quiver under their intimate heat. That handsome face was making him blush so hard.

All of a sudden, he didn't mind Rashomon's constant, creeping presence anymore.

"Maybe I'll show you mercy, just so I can stare into those lovely eyes some more," Akutagawa said as he pulled away. "See you tomorrow, Atsushi."

Just as quickly as he had come, Akutagawa left and closed the door behind him. His shadows, and that creepy aura, disappeared.

Atsushi remained standing in front of the door for a long time. "Did I really just..."

Dazai did have a knack for setting up the most unexpected developments.


	2. Chapter 2

Their first day of training came to an end.

Rashomon's blows pierced Atsushi's skin, covering his body with blood, but the regenerative abilities of his tiger form reduced his injuries down to small bruises after a few minutes. Akutagawa was fast, and the long range of Rashomon meant that he could strike at Atsushi from a distance. Atsushi could only strike at Akutagawa at close range with his claws, so he inflicted comparably fewer hits on his opponent than he had suffered. But when he got a hit on Akutagawa, the man was sent flying back as if he had been smashed into by a truck.

"Not bad, were-tiger," Akutagawa said when both of them determined that they had fought enough. "I almost forgot we were training. You should feel lucky that I didn't slip up and accidentally slice a few veins with Rashomon."

"You aren't in any position to say that," Atsushi replied, balling his hand into a fist. "If I had used my full strength, I could have crushed you when I hit you."

"Don't underestimate me. You've come at me with your full strength before, and I still survived. I wasn't as strong back then as I am now, either."

"I hope you don't regret saying that. Tomorrow, I'll come at you with my full power."

"Go ahead. I welcome it."

Atsushi returned to his room and took a shower to wash off his blood and sweat. Despite what he had said, he had actually used all his speed and strength just to land a couple of blows on Akutagawa during their training. Rashomon's lightning quickness made it difficult to hit Akutagawa at all. He sighed as he scrubbed his hair, realizing that he still had a long way to go.

Akutagawa had a mean streak, and he fought mercilessly, often continuing to strike at Atsushi even after bashing him to the ground. But...unlike before, Atsushi didn't get that sense that Akutagawa was trying to kill him. Each hit from Rashomon was filled with ferocity, even anger, but not malice. Akutagawa was, maybe, just a little sadistic, but he knew his limits.

Atsushi wondered: if he surrendered and refused to continue fighting, would Akutagawa spare his life?

Since moving into his new apartment, Atsushi felt a little lonely as he was no longer living with Kyouka. During some late nights when he was drowning in paperwork, he'd down sake or red wine until his head spun and he could no longer put together a coherent thought. He'd stumble out of his seat and fall on his futon, often falling asleep in an uncomfortable position without even changing into his bed clothes.

Tonight, he felt exhausted, but also strangely happy. He didn't want to think that it was because he had spent the day training against his former enemy. No, what was he thinking? He was only doing this because it was what Dazai wanted them to do. Akutagawa was _still_ his enemy, regardless of what he did last night because he was under the spell of some particularly beguiling moonlight – Akutagawa was a member of the Port Mafia, so obviously that meant they were, at the very least, rivals – Akutagawa would probably kill him without a second thought if given the chance –

A knock on the door interrupted him out of his thoughts.

Atsushi froze, disbelieving his ears. He was still in the shower. What did Akutagawa want with him now?

No, it could just be someone else.

"Give me a minute!"

Once Atsushi had gotten fully dressed, he hurried to the door and opened it. To his dismay, Akutagawa was standing there again. And a dark, dismal aura was still emanating from him rather strongly...

"What do you want?"

Akutagawa lowered his head and cleared his throat. "Atsushi," he began in a voice that sounded strangely passive and humble, "what do you do in the evenings, after your work is over?"

Atsushi paused, unsure of how to respond. He wanted to say, "why do you care?" but instead, what came out was: "eh?"

"I'll repeat myself," Akutagawa said. "When you finish work, what do you do to relax?"

"I'm almost never free from work. Kunikida assigns me a lot of paperwork to fill out before and after every case we solve." He pressed a finger to his chin. "But, I suppose, on the rare occasions that I have time off, I just hang out with..." His voice trailed off. "Well, since I live by myself now, I just try to relax, you know? Take a walk around the neighbourhood, go out for ice cream, that kind of stuff."

"Would you mind going on a walk with me right now?" Akutagawa asked.

Atsushi wondered if his jaw had hit the floor. "Akutagawa...?"

"This neighbourhood is unfamiliar to me. You would not mind showing me around the place, would you?"

"Well, I mean – sure, if that's what you want!" Atsushi forced a smile and rubbed the back of his head. He couldn't believe he was really hearing these words from Akutagawa, of all people. "But, ummm, are you sure? I mean, I'm sure you're a busy person–"

"It's what I would like to do right now."

"But, y-you're a member of the Port Mafia! What if someone sees us walking together?"

"The Port Mafia knows that I am training with an adversary right now. And I assume you would've told your Detective Agency the same? Would they be surprised to see us walking together?"

"Well, no – I mean, yes – I mean, I'm sure they have some clue from Dazai – but, okay, if you really want to, I'll go out on a walk with you!"

"Lead the way."

Atsushi could imagine his face glowing red as he left his apartment with Akutagawa in tow. His eyes darted around as he tried to figure out a place that he could go, and quickly settled on a cafe a couple of blocks away that sold chazuke and ice cream. He didn't know if Akutagawa would enjoy ice cream, but he had to imagine that Akutagawa would have to at least enjoy something, and ice cream was the closest thing he could think of to a universally enjoyed delicacy.

While walking down the street, Akutagawa caught up to him and began walking at his side as if they weren't mortal enemies.

"Your movements were weak today," Akutagawa spoke up. "I could easily predict the way you were going to move, and that's why I landed so many hits on you. You also lack skill. Your use of your ability is unrefined – almost basic. I could tell you treated your tiger as merely additional strength and speed, not as a weapon that would let you tower over your foes."

"I still got a few hits on you, okay? And I could see the fear in your eyes when I got close to attacking you."

Akutagawa stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Tomorrow, I'll have to teach you how to properly use your ability as a weapon."

"Maybe that's something that works for you, because your Rashomon is like an extension of yourself. But my ability is a transformation. I can't just wield it as a weapon when I become what it literally is."

"The nature of your ability is irrelevant. Any ability can be honed into a deadly weapon with proper teaching and discipline."

"Discipline?!" Atsushi folded his arms and looked away. "I don't care for what you have to teach me. We fight each other as equals when we train."

"You'll never see the way to improve without proper guidance."

"Like I said, I don't need you to teach me."

"Suit yourself."

At the cafe, Atsushi ordered chazuke and green tea ice cream, while Akutagawa settled on red bean ice cream and mango pudding. It was certainly more saccharine than what Atsushi expected him to get.

Having a stomach full of chazuke always improved Atsushi's mood, no matter the occasion or the particular person he happened to be sharing the meal with.

"I heard the Detective Agency took in Q," Akutagawa spoke up.

Atsushi's eyes perked up. "Yeah. We're not giving him back."

"I was not going to ask for him back. He was a huge problem for the Port Mafia to take care of in the first place, and though his ability is effective in times of crisis, they tend to come with rather...unpleasant side effects."

"I can imagine." Atsushi sighed. "I tried to talk to Q the other day."

"You did?"

"Uh, actually, 'talked to' might be an understatement." Atsushi made an embarrassed smile.

The reality was that he felt rather sorry for Q, being a boy who happened to have a terrifying ability that made it difficult for him to gain anyone's trust. To make matters worse, he was exploited by the Port Mafia to be a weapon of mass destruction, and that meant he had no experience being treated as anything other than a tool. Atsushi could see it in Q's expressions and words. Q had never been given the opportunity to form more than a surface attachment to anyone, and so he was completely devoid of love and security – possibly even more than Atsushi himself had been at the orphanage.

Maybe, this was something they shared – all three of them.

"Don't tell me that I did something wrong," Atsushi began, turning his eyes to the floor. "I took Q out on a walk in the neighbourhood around the Detective Agency and treated him to ice cream. He seemed to have enjoyed it, but he was also distrusting of me. I still don't think he trusts me, or anyone at all."

Akutagawa made an expression like a groan. "You tried to be friends with Q?"

"Yes. Why shouldn't I try? He doesn't have any friends – or, really, anybody at all. I wanted at least to show him that, with the Detective Agency, he'd be safe, which is much better than I can say for the Port Mafia."

"Q is a dangerous weapon."

"He's not just a weapon! He's a boy who's never received any love or care!"

"Didn't you fall under the influence of his ability before? He made you turn against your friends, and I heard you almost killed them."

"I'm aware of that."

"And yet, you've already forgiven him?"

"Q's ability isn't his fault. I agree that it's dangerous, and it should probably be kept away for now – but it's not the boy's problem he was born with that ability He deserves better than what you've given him."

Akutagawa said nothing in response. They ate the rest of their ice cream in silence.

On their way back, Akutagawa seemed to be in a completely different mood. Not angry, more...quiet, in a darkly serene way. The moonlight shone brightly and illuminated his grey eyes and the silky white tips of his jet black hair.

Atsushi found himself gazing absentmindedly at Akutagawa.

In battle, Akutagawa was savage and merciless, but in a way, also elegant. The way he moved in tandem with the slashes and rebounds of Rashomon, the refined flow of his strikes, the stoic presentation of his form...it was such a graceful fighting style.

Atsushi couldn't believe he was having these thoughts. Was he really charmed by the way someone like Akutagawa fought? He didn't want to admit it. He couldn't.

"Thank you for taking me out," Akutagawa said when they were back at their apartments.

"You're welcome–wait, 'taking me out'? What are you trying to imply with that phrase?"

Akutagawa looked quietly into Atsushi's eyes. He sighed, then turned towards his room. The moonlight cast a lustrous glow over his cloak.

"See you for training tomorrow."

Before Atsushi could respond, Akutagawa had closed the door on him.


	3. Chapter 3

He was alone again, standing in front of a brick wall, no one around to help him. Powerless to help himself. Pouring rain soaked the grass and chilled the air, but he wished he could run outside and be swallowed up in a massive flood. The water would wash away his red-hot anger and shame at what the other children had done to him.

Beneath the dark waves no one would be able to see the mess the children had made of his hair. Light would not fall on the cuts and bruises incurred on his arms as he tried to run from scissors, struggle out of their grasps. He'd be able to hide his face forever from the fiendish glare of the headmaster, who had laughed at him and told him it was his own fault for being too weak to resist, and that only stern discipline could cure him of his frailty.

The rain was only a drizzle. He raised his face and tried to find light in the sky. If he called out, would he hear a voice of comfort from the clouds? If he reached into the darkness, would there be a hand to grasp his?

Atsushi Nakajima awoke with tears in his eyes.

* * *

It was a slow day at the Detective Agency. Atsushi had finished all his reports and now had nothing to do except make tea and coffee for his coworkers. He'd heard from Dazai that the Agency was onto a new case, but so far he hadn't been assigned to any missions regarding it.

"What are you working on today?" a bright and cheery voice said.

Atsushi looked up into the strangely shaped eyes of a certain Q that had recently been allowed to wander around the Agency office.

"Oh, nothing, really," Atsushi responded, trying to put on a smile. "I don't have that much to do today."

"Want to go out for a walk again?"

"Technically, it's not lunch hours yet. But, I'll probably have to go for training soon."

He wondered if Akutagawa would mind if he brought Q to their daily training sessions. Actually, that was a terrible idea. Q could wander off on his own while they were fighting and stir up trouble all over the city. Though they did destroy Q's doll, so he would have trouble using his ability. But they could never be too safe with an ability like that.

Upon bringing Q back to the Agency, he was locked up in the basement. No one except Atsushi had wanted to help him. Atsushi didn't even know why he did. After all, he had fallen under the control of Q's ability before and almost killed Naomi. He ought to have hated the child. But something didn't quite feel right about leaving Q in the basement to suffer. He knew what it was like to be trapped in a dark room, fingers clawing at the walls, begging for someone – anyone – to come and save him.

When he reached out into the darkness, no one had held his hand. He wouldn't put anyone through that.

"Sorry, Q," Atsushi said. "You might have to stay here by yourself for a bit longer."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know, but I've petitioned the boss to let you go out if you promise to behave yourself." Atsushi didn't know if he could really trust Q to roam the city freely, but trapping the boy at the Agency felt worse. "Let's hope he gives you your freedom soon."

"Okay!"

Atsushi could feel glares coming at him from the others in the room. No one at the Agency trusted Q, especially not Dazai. They were probably thinking that he was too naive for believing that Q could be trusted to behave if he regained his freedom. After all, Q could always just wander back to the Port Mafia and become an enemy of the Agency again. The Port Mafia could easily win Q back to their side just by giving him another doll to use his ability with.

But Atsushi had a feeling that, if he talked to Q with trust, if he did nice things for Q and showed Q how to be kind to other people, Q wouldn't go back to the Port Mafia. After all, the Port Mafia were the ones who had trapped Q and only allowed him to go out as a weapon of terror. If Q learned to see Atsushi as a friend, if Q knew there was a home for him at the Agency, wouldn't he want to stay with them instead of defecting back to his former imprisonment?

When lunch came, Atsushi went out and met Akutagawa at the restaurant they had planned to meet at every day they trained.

Atsushi was aware of how awkward it was to be eating a bowl of udon with his enemy, and he was sure Akutagawa felt the same. In spite of that, Akutagawa never complained or suggested anything else, like eating lunch separately before meeting up for training.

"We'll work on your speed and dodges today," Akutagawa said. "Last session, you were able to dodge Rashomon seventeen percent of the time. I will be interested to see if you can improve your performance."

"Can you stop talking about our training as if it's just you teaching me?"

"You are a much less experienced fighter than I am. I believe I was sent to train you specifically to help you improve."

"That's not what Dazai would do. I'm sure he sees a lot of room for improvement in you, too! And I've beaten you in battle before."

Akutagawa's hand curled into a fist. "You do not know what Dazai would want."

"And you think you do?"

"Don't test me, were-tiger. I was given specific instructions to train you so that you could hone your tiger ability into a formidable weapon."

Atsushi narrowed his eyes. "Why did you comply, knowing that you and I are enemies? Why would you help train someone whom you might end up fighting against one day?"

Akutagawa banged his hand against the table. "You don't know anything, were-tiger."

A foul mood surrounded Akutagawa as the two of them departed to the field on the outskirts of the city where they conducted their training sessions. Atsushi could feel a familiar dark aura seething out of him, or more specifically, his coat. Black threads of Rashomon hung off Akutagawa's robe like blades threatening to strike, or a beast hungry to devour its prey.

Rashomon struck at him rapidly and in quicker succession than in their sessions before. Atsushi wasn't about to let himself falter, however. Showing weakness now was tantamount to admitting his inferiority to Akutagawa. He had to let Akutagawa know that they stood on equal ground, that Dazai chose the two of them to train together because he knew that only they could help each other improve. Wasn't it due to the strength of their combined abilities that they were able to take down the leader of the Guild?

Atsushi felt waves of pain rippling through his body as Rashomon tore through his flesh. He didn't back off, and instead rushed at Akutagawa with his full strength. Blue lightning streaked over his body as a balled hand became deadly claws. With a thundering roar, he aimed an earth-shattering blow at Akutagawa's chest.

Black threads surging through the air recoiled upon itself, gathering around Akutagawa and wrapping him up like a mummy. Atsushi struck Akutagawa's protective armour with enough force to send him hurtling through the air. Akutagawa was almost about to smash against a tree at the edge of the field when the threads of Rashomon around himself unfolded and stretched out below him, grasping the ground and decelerating his body. He was able to orient himself to hit the tree with his foot, which he then used to spring himself into the air.

Dark blades covered in cracking red lightning shot towards Atsushi, who just barely dodged out of the way before he saw Akutagawa coming at him through the air. He raised his arms to protect his face, which prevented him from seeing the black tentacles that circled around his body and aimed, like harpoons, to strike him from behind. It was the smile that came over Akutagawa's face that revealed it, but it was already too late.

Atsushi tried to turn his body in midair – surprisingly possible for a cat – in an attempt to block the attack from behind. Red hot pain flooded through his body as Rashomon pierced him. He could just see the smirk on Akutagawa's face. Instead of relenting, he aimed a kick at the next dark thread that shot towards him. He was partially successful, but unfortunately, he could only keep himself fighting in the air for so long before the limitations imposed by gravity sent him hurtling to the ground.

The pain was indescribable. Blood poured out of Atsushi's body as he lay on the ground, stunned by all the blows he had endured and the stress of all the acrobatics he had tried to perform. He tried to get up, expecting Rashomon to come at him at any moment, but instead saw a slim black figure walking slowly towards him.

"Sixteen percent," Akutagawa said. "Worse than yesterday. Can you stand?"

Atsushi tried to raise a claw to attack, but he knew it would be no use.

"Will you keep fighting?" Akutagawa asked, and offered a hand.

Atsushi couldn't believe it. Here he was, lying completely vulnerable before his enemy – and yet, instead of finishing him off, his enemy was actually offering him a hand! He looked up at Akutagawa, feeling his face growing hot again. It wasn't like last time – it wasn't like those times in the orphanage when he stood alone, with nobody to help him, nobody to offer him a light to guide him through the darkness. If he took the hand, he would surface above the water.

He wasn't helpless anymore.

"I will," Atsushi said, gritting his teeth as reached out into the darkness, still holding to the past, still holding to the belief that there would be no one to bring him back onto his feet when he fell down.

A firm, strong hand grasped his, and warm light flooded his eyes.

"Return to your feet, were-tiger."


	4. Chapter 4

Atsushi couldn't get Akutagawa out of his mind that evening. He felt strangely satisfied after training and looked forward to meeting Akutagawa again the next day. When he realized that he was actually excited about meeting with his enemy, he felt the distinct sensation of his face dropping very, very low. A dark cloud came over his eyes.

It wasn't that he enjoyed fighting, especially when so much of the fighting involved him getting stabbed repeatedly by Rashomon. Even when he landed a blow on Akutagawa, he was always thinking: "is Akutagawa all right?" In spite of Akutagawa's cold demeanour, it was obvious that he wasn't fighting Atsushi with the intent of killing him, so Atsushi had to return the favour. Whenever he hit Akutagawa hard enough to send him flying, Atsushi was also ready to spring towards him to save him from suffering a too-heavy hit.

Of course, he had never hit Akutagawa hard enough to injure the man during their training sessions, and he dreaded thinking of the words Akutagawa would have for him if he had actually tried to rescue him out of fear that he wouldn't survive.

"This is so tiring," Atsushi mumbled to himself as he sat down before his desk to begin writing his reports. A yawn escaped his mouth. He would do almost anything other than writing tonight. Each mind-numbing report was like a pickaxe steadily chipping away at the rock that was his brain. Sooner or later, that rock was going to burst, and there definitely would not be any gold to retrieve inside it.

He needed another bottle of sake.

As he went to his refrigerator to retrieve some sake, he found himself wondering – what exactly did Akutagawa do in his evenings here, anyway? Surely working for the Port Mafia wouldn't involve anywhere near as much documentation and report writing as working for the Detective Agency. The thought of Akutagawa sitting down in front of a desk in his room, spending an entire evening drafting documents, was enough to make Atsushi burst into a fit of laughter.

"Maybe I should offer him..."

Atsushi had to stop himself from continuing that thought any further. Offering Akutagawa a drink was tantamount to self-treason! He couldn't forget how cruel Akutagawa had been to Kyouka or to himself. Akutagawa stood for everything that Atsushi himself stood against. But, if that was true, then why did Akutagawa lend him a hand today to pull him back onto his feet after he had fallen? Why didn't Akutagawa just finish him off and be done with him forever?

He grasped a cold bottle and felt his hands shaking. Looking at the mountain of work that lay on his desk, he couldn't imagine enjoying working on it all alone by himself. If only someone was here to talk with him, someone that could ease his loneliness and boredom, someone to share a drink with and laugh together. He could try to invite someone from the Agency, but the only person who'd agree to come over was probably Kyouka, and she was definitely not of drinking age.

No matter how he tried thinking of a way out of it, he realized that the only option he had was a certain darkness-seething neighbour whose sinister aura stretched uncomfortably often into his room.

A minute later, he found himself standing in front of Akutagawa's door. Hands shaking, he knocked and waited for a reply. He waited barely more than a second before the door opened.

"Ummm, hi?" Atsushi said, putting on a smile that was remarkably forced. "Would y-you...like to come over to my room for a drink?"

The look on Akutagawa's face could possibly be described as that of someone who had extreme trouble believing even a single word of what he heard.

"What?" Akutagawa responded, his eyes growing wide. "Are you serious?"

"Well..." Atsushi felt his confidence eroding away even faster than his earlier conception of that mental pickaxe chipping off his sanity. "Ummm...I m-mean, I've got a lot of work to do t-tonight, and I h-have drinks in my room, so, w-well, since I'm living alone by myself and I have no one to drink with, I thought, maybe I c-could ask you..."

Akutagawa began to look more convinced, but he was still staring at Atsushi with an expression of stark disbelief. "I thought you didn't trust me."

"Don't think that I'm offering my trust to you just because I'm offering you a drink! I just want someone to keep me from growing really bored while I'm working on my reports."

"I find it hard to believe that those are your true motivations. This had better not be a trap."

"Hey!" Atsushi raised his hand to point a finger. "You're the one who intruded into my room on the day you moved here by spreading your ability through the walls! And let's not even talk about what you did after that when we were standing under the moonlight."

"Oh? Did I do something unwarranted beneath the moon?"

"What?! Don't you remember?"

"Not particularly. Are you, perhaps, suggesting that I leaned in too closely to observe your features when I developed the sneaking suspicion that you were going to transform into a were-tiger on me because of your immature control over your ability?"

Lava surged into Atsushi's face, and he was pretty sure they were taking full occupancy of his cheeks. He had to summon all his willpower to keep the fire from bursting. "Okay, are you going to come over for a drink or not?"

"If you're offering, then certainly."

Atsushi couldn't believe it. His mental state was a blur as he took a bottle of chilled sake out from his refrigerator and handed it to Akutagawa.

Akutagawa, the man that was supposed to be his mortal enemy, was occupying his living space at this very moment, and he had just offered him alcohol.

While Atsushi stumbled towards his desk and nearly crashed into his chair, Akutagawa sat down onto the nearby couch and leaned his head back against the wall, crossing his legs. Atsushi couldn't help but notice how graceful the man looked. Akutagawa's expression was usually something between a frown and a grimace, but when he was relaxed, his lips curved up in a way that appeared almost calm, peaceful. Not exactly happy – Atsushi couldn't imagine a happy Akutagawa at all – but, contented, in a way that he had never seen him before.

Was Akutagawa satisfied because Atsushi had invited him to his room and served him sake?

As much as Atsushi tried not to think too deeply about Akutagawa's appearance, he couldn't help noticing Akutagawa's slick black coat and how well it blended with his long dark hair. The only part that appeared a little out of place were his hairs' white tips, but even that composed well with his pale face which always had that regal, 'can't-let-you-think-I-have-interest-in-you' expression. Atsushi usually wasn't fond of those faces given his history in the orphanage, but Akutagawa was different. He was definitely haughty, but he wasn't nasty like those children that had bullied him, or malicious like his headmaster had been.

That was a very strange description of Akutagawa, and he was sure others, like Kyouka, would disagree. Why did he have to think such flattering thoughts towards the person that was, for the hundredth time, supposed to be his enemy?

'Supposed to be'.

"Are you going to say something, were-tiger, or are you going to keep ogling me like I'm some prized animal in a zoo?" Akutagawa spoke up, shattering Atsushi out of his thoughts.

"What?! I wasn't doing that!" Atsushi cried and returned to the pages splattered out on the desk in front of him.

He tried to focus on the reports, but found that not one corner of his mind had any attention to spare for the bureaucratic procedures behind solving a case. Kunikida would definitely get mad at him tomorrow for not finishing the documents that he'd promised to draft, but everyone knew that he was also under special circumstances. Namely, these circumstances involved training with someone that had been hell-bent on killing him just a couple of weeks ago, and potentially also having that person in his room, drinking ice-cold sake on his couch.

"I hope I'm not distracting you from your work," Akutagawa said. "If you want, I can go back to my room and let you concentrate."

"No, it's f-fine," Atsushi said, trying to smile. "I invited you here to have a drink, after all, so feel free to stay as long as you want."

As those words left his mouth, Atsushi could feel himself sinking into the ground, where he wished he could stay forever.

But was Akutagawa really supposed to be his enemy? Even after everything that had happened, the two of them were always able to reconcile. It was because that they had worked together that they had defeated their common enemy, the Guild, and saved Yokohama from a catastrophe. Within a few days, they were training together, and a week later, they were sharing a drink in the same room.

Atsushi knew he couldn't keep lying to himself. Having Akutagawa over so that he could procrastinate on writing reports was the exact opposite of being mortal enemies with him.

"You trained well today," Akutagawa spoke up after taking a few swigs. "Although your performance was slightly worse, your resolve was much better. In battle, resolve is what often decides the victor. Having more resolve than your opponent will always swing the fight in your favour."

"Thanks," Atsushi replied, turning his chair to face him. "You did pretty well, too. I didn't expect you to recover so quickly after I hit you with all my strength."

"As long as Rashomon is protecting me, I don't get injured from most attacks."

"Yeah, but I almost thought you were going to crash into a tree."

Akutagawa closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall before taking another swig of the bottle.

"Your eyes," he spoke up.

Atsushi blinked. "My eyes?"

"Yeah. The way you looked at me when I offered my hand to you." Akutagawa's normally-hard expression softened. "You were surprised, weren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"From the way you looked at me. Your eyes show a lot of things that I don't see from other people. A lot of people have empty eyes. Eyes that hold no emotion, no sense of history, complacency. But your eyes are different. They're full of...fear. Pain. Anger. But, instead of shutting it all away, you show it, viscerally. It must have fueled you with absolute resolve when you fought against me – today, and in the past."

Atsushi lowered his eyes. Had Akutagawa really gleaned all that just from looking into his eyes?

Moreover, why was Akutagawa being so sentimental?

"Maybe that's why Dazai let me into the Agency," Atsushi said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"He told me he saw the same things in you as he did in me."

"Wait. Dazai saw the same feelings in your eyes?"

Akutagawa's expression hardened. He looked almost embarrassed, something that Atsushi had never thought possible before. Maybe drink really was effective at bringing out peoples' innermost thoughts.

His own head was starting to feel light, too.

"I must confess something," Akutagawa said. "Dazai was not the one responsible for my moving here and training with you. I was the one who proposed this idea to him, and he accepted it."

Atsushi nearly split out his drink. "What? Why?"

"I thought it would benefit us both to train together."

"So, I was right!" Atsushi stood up and tried to laugh, but he felt the ground swaying underneath him, and he collapsed immediately back into his chair.

He had a feeling both of them were going to regret this night.

"I have not met a more formidable opponent since losing to you," Akutagawa said. "Since that battle on the ship, all I've wanted was to have a rematch with you. And I had the chance, on the Guild's airship. But the circumstances prevented it, and at the same time, they allowed me to see the potential you have inside you. I realized I had to bring out that potential."

"But I'm still your enemy, aren't I?"

"I wasn't so sure anymore. For the longest time, I had wanted approval from Dazai, but as a member of the Agency, he was my enemy, too. And you, whom I wish to defeat, have turned out to be both my enemy and my ally. As much as I want allegiances to be black and white, it's never so simple. Circumstances constantly shift, and I find myself changing in the same ways."

Atsushi couldn't believe the conversation that they were having. He was having a hard time getting used to sentimental Akutagawa, and he was sure that things were all going back to normal tomorrow, with Akutagawa being his usual unemotional self.

The moon and the stars lit up the night sky with a glow that felt both warm and cold.

"I suppose that's the way it is," Atsushi said. "I wanted to see you as my mortal enemy. I couldn't forgive you for the things you did to Kyouka. But...after you extended your hand to me today, I realized that I just couldn't see you in that way anymore."

"Is that why you invited me over for a drink?"

"Shut up! That was because I was lonely!" Atsushi slammed the bottle on his desk, not realizing the words he had just admitted.

"I saw that, too, in your eyes," Akutagawa said. "Your loneliness. Tell me – what made you feel this way?"

Atsushi had to try hard to keep himself from revealing everything to Akutagawa.

An awful memory lingered in his mind. A rainy day, him standing before a brick wall, his face burning with shame. His hair was a mess. Behind his back, the other kids must have all been laughing at him. The headmaster was punishing him for being weak again. He'd be starved, he'd be beaten, and he'd have to stare at this wall, every day, until his teachers were pleased with the degree of suffering they had incurred.

It was such a horrible part of his past, a past that he wanted to leave behind forever.

"I've never had anyone," Atsushi spoke up, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "I grew up in an orphanage without any friends."

He really was going to spit everything out, wasn't he?

"I suffered every day in that place. Insults, beatings, being starved, locked in dark rooms – there wasn't a thing you, or anyone else, could do to me that hadn't already been done by them. Them–" he sniffed and gulped the rest of the bottle "–the headmaster, the teachers, and the children. They tortured me until I was shattered beyond repair."

Akutagawa's gaze grew soft, almost...sad.

"I don't seek revenge on them," Atsushi continued. "What's done in the past can't be changed. I don't even remember most of their faces anymore, except...except the headmaster."

"Would you go back to kill him?"

"No. I don't want to kill, or hurt, anyone."

"Even though they inflicted such terrible pain and trauma on you?"

"Even so. I don't–" He tried to smile, and felt a tear rolling down his cheek "–I don't want to remain angry at them, not when I have such a good life now, not when I have such good friends at my side–"

The bottle fell from his hand, and he wiped the tears away from his eyes.

He couldn't stay mad at the people in his past. No matter how justified it felt, no matter how much he wanted to return the pain and suffering they had inflicted upon him, he just couldn't.

He had already achieved his revenge by proving to himself that he deserved to live. That his life had worth.

Before he could get out of his chair to pick up the pieces of the bottle, he felt arms being wrapped around his body. Akutagawa's arms.

"It's okay."

He never thought he'd hear those words from him.

Looking up into Akutagawa's eyes, he discovered that he could see similar things. Pain, fear, self-directed anger, loneliness, a lack of self-worth.

Maybe, if Akutagawa was training him to become stronger, he could also teach Akutagawa to love himself? Just maybe?

Atsushi sank his face into Akutagawa's chest, beyond caring about what this showed. He wanted someone's warmth. He wanted to have Akutagawa at his side so that he didn't feel so lonely every night anymore.

He really was lucky to have found such good friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Atsushi wasn't ready to go to work the next day. As he expected, Kunikida was disappointed by his inability to finish his report, and he couldn't even tell Kunikida the reason, because if any word got out about his drinking with Akutagawa, the Agency would definitely have questions for him...

Dazai, however, didn't appear too perturbed by his incomplete report.

"Put your report aside for now. We're investigating a new case," he said.

"What's it about?" Atsushi asked.

Although Dazai normally had a self-assured expression on his face when discussing new cases, he didn't look confident about this one. "Could you wait a while before asking me about it? The circumstances of this case are rather mysterious, and Ranpo's working on it right now. I'll tell you more once we've figured something out."

"Wait. This case has even Ranpo stumped?"

"Ranpo isn't stumped, but he's in the middle of investigating the clues. Maybe we'll have something figured out by the end of the day."

"What are the clues?"

"The jist of it is that there's been a string of suicides lately, and the people who killed themselves don't appear to have much connection with each other. Don't worry about it for now, and let us handle the case."

Atsushi returned to his desk. Just like last night, he couldn't stop thinking about Akutagawa. The way that Akutagawa had held him after he started crying was embarrassing, but he couldn't shake away the feeling of how warm the embrace had felt. Akutagawa was the last person he suspected to have a warm body, so maybe he was just imagining things. Still, it was so comforting to have Akutagawa's arms around himself, holding him in a way that made him want to melt into those dark clothes...

Did he really just imagine himself sinking into Rashomon?

Regardless, he was excited to see Akutagawa again for training today. He was improving, and Akutagawa was teaching him new things every session. Also, maybe he was imagining it again, but Akutagawa seemed to be getting softer on him. He wasn't getting hit as hard, and sometimes, it seemed like Akutagawa was deliberately dealing weaker hits on him that barely left any injuries. Akutagawa ought to know that in his tiger form, he could regenerate wounds easily, so why did he not use his full strength when attacking him?

His thoughts turned again to last night when Akutagawa was in his living room, where they were sharing a bottle of sake together. Even though it was far too embarrassing to admit, he wanted to have Akutagawa over tonight again. He wouldn't mind if Akutagawa came over every night. Then he wouldn't be lonely anymore, and he could have someone to talk to while he made dinner, wrote reports, went out on walks, prepared for bed...

A familiar voice snapped Atsushi out of his thoughts.

"Hello!"

Atsushi turned to the source of the voice and found himself staring into distinctly uneven pupils. One was a star, the other was a yellow ring.

"What are you doing today?" Q asked.

"I'll be working on some reports, then going out for training again."

"I heard you were training with Akutagawa. How's that grump doing?"

"He's doing quite well, and I don't think you should call him in a grump. Maybe he isn't the most sociable person, but he definitely has good intentions...errhh, when he's not working directly for the Port Mafia, I mean, but even when he is, he sometimes does the right thing." Atsushi blinked, realizing that he was never going to make a valid point. "Anyway, our training's going well."

"Can I come watch?"

"You'd have to ask the president for permission to leave the Agency first, don't you?"

"Awww, can't you tell him to make an exception just for today? I've been stuck in this boring place for weeks, and I just want to go outside again! I promise I won't cause any trouble."

"Even if you do come along, Akutagawa might not be happy to see you. And, despite what I said about him not being a grump...well, he tends to get kind of grumpy. Sometimes."

Q lowered his face in a downcast expression. "So, you don't want me there?"

"For your own sake, it might be better if you don't come along. How about this? I'll take you out for a walk, maybe even go for some ice cream tomorrow. I'll tell the president today so that he's informed. Sounds good?"

"Mmmm. Okay."

Atsushi really did believe he could become friends with Q, maybe even get a better home for the poor boy one day. As long as Q remained on his best behaviour, that future seemed a decent possibility. But he didn't know if Q would stay the same around other people, especially if left without supervision. Things could become worse again if he got his hands on another doll. And with the Port Mafia still on the lookout for him, letting him go out on his own was still too risky.

A few minutes later, Atsushi saw Ranpo wander by his desk, muttering something under his breath about an "online game". Atsushi wondered if Ranpo had figured out the case, but the expression on Ranpo's face wasn't the epitome of clarity. Dazai never approached him to give him anymore information either.

When he met Akutagawa for training that afternoon, he couldn't help noticing that Akutagawa's expression was similar to the one that had been on his face last night. A calm, almost pleasant expression that gave away a semblance of a smile.

Atsushi smiled back.

There was a mutual understanding between the two of them now that they enjoyed each others' presence, and also that neither of them would ever express that in words.

Would they?

Something warm lit up inside Atsushi. He felt his heart softening. Once more, he wished that he could have Akutagawa over in his room tonight.

To his luck, after their training concluded, Akutagawa was the one who offered to hang out with him.

"Would you like to go on a walk again with me?"

Atsushi wanted to make sure he had heard those words correctly. "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere you want, as long as it's within the city." Those words came out so smoothly that Atsushi had a hard time believing it was Akutagawa he was talking to. "I still have to stay in Yokohama in case the Port Mafia call me."

"Sure!"

Since they had been training on the outskirts of the city, they started making their way back downtown. But instead of heading for the centre of the city, Atsushi suddenly had the idea of going towards an old place beside a certain river. It was on the banks of the river that he had met someone who changed his life. Someone who was significant to both himself and Akutagawa.

When they arrived beside the river, Atsushi stepped onto the small grassy hill overlooking the water, which he remembered as the place where he had dragged Dazai out onto after saving him from drowning.

"What a nice wind," Atsushi said. There was a calm breeze which brought the crisp scent of the river up the hill and blew the hair out of his eyes.

He felt a hand touching his head and, for a moment, wondered if Dazai was beside him. But it was Akutagawa.

Warm fingers sifted through his hair and picked apart a soft strand that was longer than the rest. Atsushi turned and looked into grey eyes that were keenly focused upon his own. A smile crossed Akutagawa's lips, brighter than any he had seen before.

"Was this where you met Dazai?"

Atsushi nodded and felt his throat constricting. Why was Akutagawa touching his hair and looking at him with those smiling eyes?

"I'm glad," Akutagawa said, his voice growing quieter. "Glad that you saved him on that day."

"I was just trying to help a man I thought was drowning."

"You are not the type of person who sits by and watches while someone else is struggling. I am aware of that."

Akutagawa dropped Atsushi's strand of hair and looked out towards the river. His black coat billowed behind his back, blown by the wind.

"If you had not saved Dazai, he could have died in this river, and you would not have been able to join the Detective Agency."

"I probably would've starved to death," Atsushi admitted.

"And if you had never joined the Detective Agency..." Akutagawa's voice trailed off, and his eyes turned distant.

They looked out at the sunset beyond the river, towards the glowing orange and red streaks that rose from the horizon and painted the sky the colour of coral. Dusky purple hues filled the painting beyond where the sun could reach. It was just like that evening so many days ago – the evening that had changed Atsushi's life.

"I never would've met you," Atsushi finished Akutagawa's sentence.

Akutagawa turned to face him. "You never would have realized your full potential."

"If I had starved to death, I probably wouldn't even have realized that I had an ability."

"Did it really take you that long to notice that you became a tiger under the moonlight?" Noticing the frown that came over Atsushi's face, Akutagawa changed his tone to be less criticizing. "What I mean is – you've had your ability all your life, correct?

"I think so, but I'm not sure."

"Even if you do not remain conscious when you are transformed, shouldn't there have been circumstances that simply would not have made any sense to you if you did not realize that you had your ability?"

A bittersweet taste grew in Atsushi's mouth as lingering painful memories came back to him. "There were many times at the orphanage when my teachers, and especially the headmaster, would beat me for no reason. I think my ability must have had something to do with it."

Akutagawa remained silent.

"The thing is, I'd get singled out for beatings far more often than the other children. I didn't understand why." He clenched his fists and looked down at the grass. "But I think they were also trying to protect me from knowing. If it became public knowledge that I could transform into a tiger, the other children would've been terrified of me, and I'd probably be bullied even worse for being different. For being something scary."

"But you would have known why you were treated the way you were. Keeping your ability a secret from you is worse."

"At that orphanage, being different was the worst thing that could happen to you. Any kid who did the slightest thing out of line would've been cast out by all the others, and the teachers would beat them for being antisocial, because it had to be their fault that they couldn't make any friends. I'd know, because I was often that kid."

Atsushi turned his head towards the sky as it began to grow dark. "But the truth is, I had a suspicion about my ability – a feeling that I was different, after one incident. So I wasn't entirely in the dark about it."

"Would you mind telling?"

"There was another boy at the orphanage that I used to talk to. I can't remember his name anymore, because he moved out a long time ago. He was a really quiet kid, but he was nicer than the others. Neither of us had any friends, so I guess we kind of got along that way. We used to sneak out into the basement library at the orphanage in the middle of the night to read books together." Atsushi turned towards Akutagawa. "Do you like to read books, Akutagawa?"

"I enjoyed reading books when I was younger, but I stopped after becoming Dazai's disciple."

"Oh." Atsushi placed his hands behind his back and shifted his foot to roll his shoe against the ground. "Well, we read all kinds of books in that library. He was a fan of adventure stories, especially ones that were set in space with lots of brave and smart heroes. But I prefer stories that are driven by unique and interesting characters. So I read the more literary stuff, like the myths and fairytales."

Atsushi tried hard to think of the other boy's face. Through the foggy memories that he had tried hard to repress since leaving the orphanage, he began to make out some features.

The boy had black hair and small, downcast eyes that often had a sad-dog look. His hair was cut like Akutagawa's, but his eyes were black, not grey. Despite that colour, those eyes would light up brightly when he read his favourite fantasy and science fiction books. Sometimes, they shone with tears as he finished a good story.

"Anyway, our friendship didn't last long," Atsushi continued. "One night, I fell asleep in the library reading books. I remember there was moonlight shining through the basement window. In the morning, when I awoke, the boy was terrified of me. I didn't understand why. He never talked to me again, and he left the orphanage a week later."

Akutagawa looked towards Atsushi sympathetically. "Was he adopted?"

"I don't know. I feel like he just disappeared one day."

"I see."

As the sun descended behind the horizon, the air grew cool and the sky became awash with dark blues and purples. The wind swept Atsushi's bangs across his eyes.

"Do you miss him?"

Atsushi wasn't prepared for that question, and he felt a blush coming to his face. "Well, that was all so long ago, so I don't really know...but, I guess, I do wonder sometimes where he is and what he's doing now..."

"He may be dead."

"I know."

Akutagawa coughed. "Would you like me to take you somewhere?"

"Huh?"

"You've been telling me a lot about your life at the orphanage. Perhaps I ought to tell you my own – what my life was before I joined the Port Mafia."

"You mean..."

Akutagawa straightened his back and gazed softly in Atsushi's direction with a quiet smile.

"Would you like me to show you my old home in the slums?"


	6. Chapter 6

The squalid conditions of Akutagawa's old home in the Yokohama slums were disheartening to look at. Atsushi couldn't help feeling a sense of pity as he gazed upon the tiny room Akutagawa had lived in before he joined the Port Mafia. It was a tiny corner of a basement complex that, according to Akutagawa, had apparently been home to eight children, himself and his sister, Gin, included. The complex wasn't inhabited anymore because the building had been bought five years ago and the basement cleaned out to be used as storage.

At night, Yokohama remained a bustling city, full of vibrant activity. Children ran through the dirt-covered streets of the slums and one of them splashed into a puddle that sent muddy water flying towards Atsushi. Before Atsushi's clothes turned brown, a black tendril shot in front of him and ate the mud.

"...Thanks," Atsushi said, gazing at Akutagawa with his cheeks turning red again. "That really wasn't necessary, though. I won't die from a little mud."

"It might have been a problem if the mud got on your face. You aren't familiar with the diseases lurking in the slums' water." As if to make a point, Akutagawa coughed into his hand. "Needless to say, I grew up with a new sickness around every corner."

In spite of Akutagawa's fighting prowess, his body looked quite fragile up close. So fragile that Atsushi wondered if each blow he had inflicted upon him could have shattered every bone in his body. He was starting to regret hitting Akutagawa so hard during their training.

They began walking down the alley adjacent to the basement complex through a mosaic of open grocery stands and food stalls. Akutagawa seemed to know the place like the back of his hand. He had a fatigued expression, no doubt from walking all the way here after a long afternoon spent training with Atsushi. Since Atsushi was feeling somewhat hungry, he decided to buy some food and approached a dessert stand which sold ice cream treats.

"There's Creme Brulee on sale," Atsushi said, eyes open wide at the delicious brown pudding. "Hey, Akutagawa? The desserts here won't kill me, would they?"

Akutagawa huffed, but looked amused at Atsushi's question. "I can't guarantee they will be safe or healthy, but you probably won't die."

"Okay! Want one?"

"Not in particular." He went instead to a grocery stand where, to Atsushi's amusement, he bought a single fig.

A minute later, Atsushi was walking down the streets with creme brulee pudding in a cup and three scoops of ice cream of sesame, red bean, and vanilla flavours. Akutagawa was eating the single fig he had bought and looked like he was enjoying it more than he enjoyed eating ice cream.

"I didn't know you liked figs that much."

"It was a staple food when I was younger," Akutagawa said. "They were easy to steal. When there was nothing else to eat, we would eat from our hoard of figs. Every winter, there were many days when we would have figs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Hearing that made Atsushi want to retch. Not that he hated figs, but he couldn't imagine eating the same thing every day for months. Even at the orphanage, the cooks would make an attempt to serve different meals every once in a while. Most of it was still gruel, but if they were lucky, they could find bits of meats and leafy vegetables in the gruel. Sometimes, on holidays, they might even be served carrots or corn.

Eating nothing for figs for months? That was quite a spartan way of living, to say the least...

Looking at Akutagawa, Atsushi began to wonder if he had ever been right to feel angry at the man. Having grown up in a world where he had to steal in order to be able to eat, Akutagawa couldn't have had a rosy outlook on the world. To the children of the slums, life must have been a merciless competition where anyone left behind would starve to death. Compared to that kind of life, the Port Mafia must have been total luxury.

The slums of Yokohama were far from the nicer neighbourhood where the Detective Agency's office was located. It was closer to the headquarters of the Port Mafia, but not by much. Atsushi wondered if he could have ended up here in another life, living with Akutagawa and his sister instead of being tortured every day at the orphanage. Would that life have necessarily been worse?

Survival out on the streets would probably have been more difficult. Atsushi also would've been terrible at stealing food. Maybe he had been given an easier lot in life at the orphanage after all, even if it meant having to live in the shadow of his Headmaster's soul-crushing gaze for the rest of his life...

"Here," Akutagawa said, pointing down a narrow alley that led to a dead end with several trash cans in front of it.

"What's here?" Atsushi asked.

"This is where our old gang wars took place," Akutagawa explained. His tone was indifferent, almost nonchalant. "All the children surviving in the slums were part of one gang or another. Each gang had their own territory, and if someone from another gang crossed into a territory they didn't belong in, the gang had free rein to beat them to a pulp."

Akutagawa walked towards the alley. Atsushi couldn't help noticing black threads of Rashomon materializing upon the edges of his coat, but they were thin and faint.

"But often, territory would be disputed by one gang or another," Akutagawa continued. "Violent fights would break out over a tiny piece of mud, and more often than not, someone would have to die before one side relented to the other. Seeing a dead kid's brains bashed out all over the ground became such a common occurrence that the city officials decided something had to be done."

Atsushi gulped. Akutagawa's past was becoming worse than he had ever imagined.

"They did not stop the fights. We were told to host all our battles in a small alley out of sight from the adults, so they would not have to be disturbed by the sight of a dead child lying in the middle of the street. This is the alley where we decided to do it."

"That's terrible," Atsushi said in a quiet voice. "They wanted to have you killing each other out of sight rather than stopping it?"

"In their eyes, it was one less mouth to feed." Akutagawa smirked, although his eyes expressed a surprising amount of sympathy. Towards whom?

Atsushi followed Akutagawa into the alley. Fortunately, there were no dead bodies in there...and now Atsushi realized that he had basically become one of those adults. He would rather not see a dead child lying in the streets than have to do something about it.

But, at least he wasn't ignorant about it anymore.

Yokohama's slums had gotten better over the years, and now there seemed to be less children fighting each other out on the streets than before. Atsushi couldn't help but wonder: where did they all go? Had things just magically been fixed?

"You must be wondering where all of those children are now," Akutagawa spoke up.

Atsushi nodded.

"A third of us died from starvation or the constant fighting. Another third got recruited into the Port Mafia, and the last third are probably spending their time in jail."

"So many of you went into the Port Mafia?"

"How else would the Port Mafia staff itself?" Akutagawa leaned against the wall with a sigh. He threw his finished fig into one of the trash cans at the end of the alley. "Though, I still expected there to be more of them here. It's surprising that the streets are so quiet now."

"Maybe things aren't so bad anymore."

Akutagawa waved a hand at Atsushi. "I would not count on that."

"Why not? With the Detective Agency solving crimes and the Port Mafia taking in children who have no other path to go, maybe the number of orphans struggling to eke out a living in the slums really have gone down."

The expression on Akutagawa's face grew distant. He folded his arms and stared at the ground, Rashomon growing more visible on his coat. "There is still another explanation."

Akutagawa turned to face Atsushi. "Back in my old gang, there was another boy. Now that I look back on it, I believe he must have had an ability, too. But I don't know what it was. Anyway, he was always talking about how he was going to save all the children of the slums one day." That slightly devilish smirk returned to Akutagawa's face. "He ended up getting into the most fights, more than any of us. But he won all of them."

"Did you ever fight him?" Atsushi asked.

"Of course. But at that time, I had only just learned that I had an ability, and I was worried about exposing Rashomon to the other children, so I never used it." Akutagawa's forehead creased, and his gaze sank deeper. "No matter how hard I fought, I could never land a hit on that boy. It seemed like he was able to predict my every move." His voice grew to a whisper. "Just like Dazai."

"What was the boy's name?"

"I can't remember. He disappeared one day." Akutagawa shook his head, then stared at Atsushi again. "Didn't you say that you also knew a boy back at the orphanage who disappeared one day, too?"

"Yeah. But that boy wasn't a fighter." Atsushi looked up at the dark sky. "He couldn't fight at all. It was easy for all the other kids at the orphanage to beat him up."

Akutagawa looked frustrated. "Anyway, the boy I was talking about probably went in over his head one day and got himself killed without ever achieving his dream of saving all the children of the slums."

"Or maybe he just found himself a better life."

"I doubt it." Akutagawa walked towards Atsushi and stopped when they were face to face.

Atsushi held his breath.

Under the moonlight, Akutagawa again had the dark, charming glow in his eyes that mesmerized Atsushi's gaze. Up close, Atsushi was able to see the softness behind the normally hard contours of Akutagawa's face. Behind the grimaces, behind the smirks and diabolical grins, there was a man tortured by a childhood far harsher than anything Atsushi himself had endured. Far harsher than anything any child should have to face growing up.

First the slums, then training under Dazai in the Port Mafia...

Within those grey eyes, there was a something like a deep, inner longing. A longing for comfort, for warmth, for safety. For a life that would no longer be burdened by the scars of everything that he had endured. For a life that could be at peace with himself.

Atsushi was certain. He would reach out towards Akutagawa and give him the comfort and safety he desired. He wanted their hearts to touch, to let the other know that they could share in each others' pain, each others' happiness, their love...

What Atsushi didn't expect was Akutagawa reaching up to cup the side of his face with his hand.

For a second, Atsushi froze. Then, gazing into those deep, lost, grey eyes, he let himself go. He let Akutagawa gently caress his cheek, fingers sliding up to part strands of grey hair out of his eyes. Their eyes locked onto each others'. Akutagawa's hand slid up into his hair and softly stroked the side of his head. It was such a warm, tender feeling.

Within Akutagawa's eyes, there was pure affection.

Atsushi felt himself blushing. Was he really someone whom Akutagawa cared about so much? Had Akutagawa just wanted to be close to him, all this time?

He loved the quiet gleam of those eyes. They seemed to be gazing at him with wonder, with an almost childlike innocence – something he had never seen in Akutagawa before. He felt more love from those eyes than he had ever felt from anyone else in his entire life.

Looking into those eyes, he realized that they understood each other. Their past experiences, their shared pain, their childhood of deprivation and loneliness – it was something that connected them now. Something binding their hearts together so that they would always have the other close, so that they would never have to separate.

Atsushi leaned slowly towards Akutagawa and kissed him on the lips.

Akutagawa reciprocated the kiss.

Only a second later, Atsushi realized that he was kissing Akutagawa in the middle of a dark alley, and this was definitely not a suspect scene. No, not suspicious at all. Certainly not if someone from the Port Mafia or the Detective Agency who they knew were to catch them like this – no, this wouldn't spread like wildfire at all! They'd especially be safe if it was Kunikida who saw them.

"Let's go home," Atsushi said, forcing himself to part from the kiss.

Akutagawa nodded without a word.

Less than a minute after they had left the alley, however, Atsushi received a call from Dazai.

"Having fun tonight?" Dazai's voice said, which exchanged the skin on Atsushi's face with molten lava.

"Ummm...just what do you mean?" Atsushi replied, stammering.

"We've got work to do tonight," Dazai said. "Are you in or near the slums, by any chance?"

"Y-Y-Yes?"

"Good. Now, follow the steps that I'm about to give you, and make sure no one from the Port Mafia's following you."


	7. Chapter 7

Atsushi stood in front of a tall apartment building situated near the edge of the slums. Akutagawa had come with him, despite Dazai's instructions. The last thing Atsushi heard from Dazai before hanging up was the goal of his mission: to stop the man living in unit 614 from killing himself.

"Perhaps I should leave," Akutagawa spoke up. "If your mission is to prevent a suicide, I might make things harder."

"Don't go," Atsushi replied. He was surprised at how insistent he sounded. "Dazai told me that this mission could be dangerous."

"What is dangerous about it?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

"Is the man you have to save an ability user?"

"I don't know."

Akutagawa frowned. Atsushi was running out of time, so he went on ahead into the apartment lobby. But Akutagawa caught up with him less than a minute later, and the two of them went for the stairs. None of the elevators were close to the ground floor.

As they climbed to the sixth floor, Atsushi noticed a mysterious greenish tint hanging off the walls. Almost like some kind of toxic mist was seeping out of the walls. He covered his nose, but he didn't smell anything, and the mist never spread away from the walls.

"Are you doing all right?" Atsushi said, turning to face Akutagawa when they had arrived at their destination floor.

Akutagawa returned a cold look. "Do you think I am so weak that I would find climbing some stairs difficult?"

"No, but...didn't you see the green mist around the walls?"

"Yes. But I don't feel anything from them, and if it is an ability, it probably would have attacked us by now."

"What do you think it is?"

Black waves rose up from Akutagawa's coat and formed a protective armour around himself. "If you really are worried, then I will shield myself with Rashomon."

"No, it's not that..." Atsushi turned away from Akutagawa's gaze, feeling slightly embarrassed at the high level of concern in his own voice.

Not that he wanted to give the impression that he didn't care at all about Akutagawa. The two of them had been training together for long enough now that they made pretty good battle partners, and could support each other fairly well with their abilities. And after last night, they certainly couldn't say that they hated at each. But they were still from two factions that directly opposed each other, and if it came down to it, they'd each probably choose the organization they worked for over their partner. That's why Atsushi was hesitant to show too much of his feelings for Akutagawa.

He convinced himself that this was a particularly distressing situation, because for some reason he was asking Akutagawa to come with him on a Detective Agency mission that specifically forbid anyone from the Port Mafia to help.

"Hurry up," Akutagawa said. "Don't you have a life to save?"

"Yes." Atsushi nodded and dashed down the hall towards unit 614.

Though it was polite to knock, he had a feeling that a discourteous entrance could be excused if it meant saving someone's life. Atsushi kicked the door open and ran into the unit, which was pitch black except for a dim blue glow emanating from one room at the far end of the suite. He rushed towards that room and pressed his back up against the wall when he noticed that the door was open. If he went in too quickly, he might endanger the life of the man inside.

Then again, if he waited too long, the man inside might just kill himself. He didn't have much time.

"Hey!" Atsushi called out, hoping that he wasn't making a big mistake. "Are you doing okay in there? Do you need some help?"

Akutagawa walked up behind Atsushi and remained completely silent.

"Hello?" Atsushi called out again.

There came a squeal of high pitched laughter followed by the sound of someone's chair falling over. Atsushi held his breath as he heard footsteps walking towards the door from inside the room. Without hesitation, he darted into the room.

A dishevelled man stood in the middle of a messy room, holding a gun in his hand. As soon as he saw Atsushi, he pointed the gun to his head.

"Stop!" the man cried out. "It's too late! You can't stop it!"

"Put the gun down, please," Atsushi said, frightened by the man's manic glare. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I just want to make sure that you're safe."

The man jumped back towards his desk, which had a single monitor on top of it. Atsushi couldn't see clearly what was on the monitor screen. The man turned his gun towards Atsushi, but his grip began to waver.

"No...there's nothing you can do," the man said, grasping at his hair with his free hand. "There's nothing anyone can do."

"I can help you!" Atsushi shouted. "Whatever it is you're going through, it's not as bad as you think! Just put the gun down, and let's talk things through."

"You don't understand!" the man screamed. "It's not about me. It's about...it's..."

Glowing green mist materialized around the walls of the room.

"There's no need for you to do this," Atsushi said in a softer tone. "Put the gun down, please."

"I have to end it now!"

"No-"

As soon as the man pointed the gun towards his own face, a black tentacle shot into the room and knocked the gun out of the man's hand. He was a split second away from pulling the trigger. Atsushi leaped forward and grabbed the gun as the man fell to the ground, a strand of Rashomon wrapped around his wrist. As Atsushi breathed a sigh of relief, the man bashed his head against the ground and began to scream.

"No! No! No! You can't do this to me! They're going to kill me if I live – they're going to kill us all!"

The green mist lingered on the walls.

"Who's going to kill us?" Atsushi asked the man.

The man's words became incoherent and he cackled maniacally as he tried to break out of Rashomon's grip. He jumped onto his feet and lunged at Atsushi, but a second strand of Rashomon tied around his leg and dragged him back to the ground.

Akutagawa walked into the room.

"Ability users..." the man whispered, shivering. "It's all you ability users' fault. If only your kind didn't exist – if only!"

Atsushi turned to look at what was on the monitor and saw the blue screen of death.

"What were you looking at on your computer?" Atsushi asked.

In response, the man gave a shrill and insane giggle.

"Something's wrong," Akutagawa said. "This whole place feels off."

"Huh?" Atsushi said, turning towards Akutagawa.

"The green mist feels...alive. Almost like it's watching us."

Atsushi looked around the room. The mist glimmered like a fresh coat of paint, but as before, it never left the walls. "Now you think there's something wrong about it?"

"I don't know what about it irks me."

"Me neither. But, we stopped the man from killing himself, so we've achieved the objective of my mission. Thanks, Akutagawa."

"What are you supposed to do with him?"

"Dazai said we have to bring him back to the Agency."

"You ability users!" the man shouted again, before bursting into another fit of mad laughter. "Ability users, ability users, ability users, I'm going to a place full of ability users who are going to kill me! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"We won't kill you," Atsushi said, then turned to face Akutagawa. "Sorry to trouble you like this, but could you bring him outside? I'll handle it from there."

"I could also knock him out to stop his stupid laughter."

"Well..."

A strand of Rashomon shot towards the man and slapped him across the face, knocking him out. "Finally."

Atsushi thought that was excessive, but deep down, he felt that he'd have to knock the man out himself if he were to carry him back to the Agency without the help of anyone from the Port Mafia as per Dazai's orders.

As Akutagawa lifted the man off his feet and began heading for the exit of the unit, a shot suddenly flew towards him and would've struck him in the chest if he hadn't been prepared to defend himself with a layer of Rashomon armour.

Atsushi looked into the darkness. Smoke rose from somewhere his eyes couldn't see, but he could hear and feel the footsteps walking towards them. Green mist spread out all over the walls of the room, illuminating the silhouette of another man standing inside the darkness of the suite. He wore a mask which completely hid his face.

"Who are you?" Atsushi demanded.

"We meet again," the man said, and the mist lit up the room to reveal him fully. He had short black hair and wore a plain blue coat and grey pants. In his hand was a gun which he pointed straight at Atsushi.

"We meet again," the second man said, his voice deep and calm. "Atsushi Nakajima."

"How do you know my name?"

"You've come at a rather inconvenient time," the man said, ignoring Atsushi's question. "Looks like the Detective Agency's got some smart minds, after all. You caught on to our trail pretty quickly."

"What is he talking about?" Akutagawa asked.

"I don't know," Atsushi said. "Dazai never told me anything about this."

"Tell the minds behind your Agency that they have my utmost respect," the man continued. "Also tell them that their organization's purpose for existing is utterly pointless so long as this city exists."

Atsushi was ready to charge at the man. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you're the person behind the green mist-"

"That isn't me. But if you're thinking of taking me on, I'd advise you to reconsider. The likes of you are far too infantile for me to bother with. Compared to us, you're nothing but bugs."

"Us?"

"Did you think it was only me?"

A streak of blue lightning transformed Atsushi's hand into a tiger's claw. "I don't know who you are or what's going on, but I'm not too fond of you pointing that gun at my face, and the Agency's purpose is definitely not pointless!"

He lunged towards the man, and in that same instant, black threads of Rashomon swirled around him to give him a protective armour. The man shot twice, but both bullets bounced off Rashomon.

Just as Atsushi was about the strike the man's hand, something happened to his balance which he was completely unprepared to understand.

Mere inches away from his target, Atsushi felt his entire body being hurtled through...something, and that came with the feeling of being flung everywhere at once and yet also going nowhere at all. The threads of Rashomon wrapped around him became chaotic strings that distorted in ways he could only describe as being folded into a two-dimensional plane, then a one-dimensional point, then blinking out of existence. All around him, space was retracting and magnifying, and images sprung up of himself being multiplied to infinity, then divided into nothing, then projecting into all sorts of weird angles and dimensions. It felt like the very space he inhabited was somehow being regurgitated.

Atsushi blinked, and he found himself standing outside the building with Akutagawa behind him, the suicidal man still knocked out and in Rashomon's hold.

"What...just happened?"

Akutagawa rubbed his eyes. "I saw you lunge towards that man, and then...we arrived here."

"You didn't even see yourself going out the building, right? We just got transported here instantly."

"Yes..."

"How did that even...?"

"No clue."

Atsushi turned back towards the building. "You think he's still in there?"

"More importantly, what did he do to us?"

"I don't know...ugh. None of this makes any sense at all."

"You saved the man you were tasked to help. Now you have to deliver him back to the Agency, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Go do that." Akutagawa retracted Rashomon from the unconscious man. "Worry about what just happened later. I've dealt with far too much tonight."

"I guess so..."

Atsushi picked up the man and slung him over his back. A streak of blue lightning swirled around his legs, giving him the strength of the tiger's spring-like jump.

He was out of the slums, but he was still far from the Agency. It would take a while for him to get back, and it was now dark enough that people wouldn't notice a white tiger carrying a man jumping through the city as long as he stuck to the spaces between buildings where most people didn't look.

"Wait," Akutagawa said, walking towards Atsushi. Rashomon rose out of him once again.

Atsushi looked into Akutagawa's eyes.

Like a river, they contained a depth that couldn't be understood from a surface glimpse. Behind those eyes, Atsushi could still see the pain of Akutagawa's painful upbringing, his torturous childhood. If they weren't from enemy factions, if they had just had a bit more time tonight, a lot more could have come out of their relationship. More than anything, Atsushi wanted to stay with Akutagawa. He wanted their hearts to be close.

"Were-tiger..." Akutagawa murmured, "You're looking at me like some puppy who's begging their master for love and attention."

Atsushi blinked. "Akutagawa, you're the worst!"

"Anyway, I have an idea." A strand of Rashomon wrapped around Atsushi's legs, and Atsushi was surprised at how willing he was to just accept that. "I will hurl you in the direction of the Agency with Rashomon, and multiplied by the power of your tiger's jump, you should be able to get pretty far."

"Thanks."

As Atsushi flew through the air, propelled by the power of two abilities, he looked down at the city below and sighed.

He wished that things could just be peaceful for once.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, at the Agency, Dazai looked pleased with Atsushi's successful mission, but there were hidden lines of concern all over his face. After finishing his previous report and hanging out with Q over lunch, Atsushi was called into a meeting room to have a chat with Dazai.

"What happened to that man I brought back last night?" Atsushi asked.

"He's safe now. I interrogated him, then handed him over to the police."

Atsushi breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't get the memory of what had happened last night out of his head. The other man that had pointed the gun at him, laughed at him, told him that the Agency's purpose was useless...he wondered if Dazai knew about this man. And why did that man also know his name?

"As you know, Ranpo and I have been investigating a string of suicides that have been happening all over the city lately," Dazai continued. "After interrogating the man you saved, we were able to confirm our suspicions about the case."

Dazai stood up with his hands behind his back. "Atsushi, have you heard of the video game called 'The Scourge of Magic'?"

"No, I haven't."

"Every person who committed suicide had been playing this game. We wondered if there had been some ability placed inside the game's code that could influence players to make them kill themselves. Such an ability is unheard of and would certainly be extremely dangerous to come in contact with. I wasn't sure if even I could be immune from its influence since No Longer Human only works on something I touch, and a game is technically untouchable."

Atsushi nodded. "Were you able to find anything out about the game?"

"Of course. We hacked into its servers surprisingly easily and kept watch on everyone that played it. It turns out not everybody who played the game ended up committing suicide, but of those who did kill themselves, they invariable did so only after about two months of playing. Naturally, I decided to create an account myself to find out what the game's about."

"That's dangerous!"

Dazai waved his hand at Atsushi. "It's all right. The game's nothing special, but it does have a much darker purpose. And, as far as I know, no ability resides within its code."

"That's good to hear." Atsushi leaned back in his seat and thought about seeing Akutagawa for training this afternoon. After all the help Akutagawa had given him, he felt embarrassed at wanting to have Akutagawa over in his room again tonight.

Dazai's keen eyes pierced through him and seemed to tear out his secrets. But Dazai said nothing about Akutagawa.

"Essentially, the game is a life simulator that takes place in some time resembling feudal Japan. You play as a normal person working on a farm, raising a family, or starting a business while occasionally being recruited to go to war against an enemy lord. But, every once in a while, some person called a 'Magician' comes and uses their magic to destroy everything you've been working towards. And you can't do anything to stop them, because their magic is too powerful. You just have to take whatever they do to you and hope you're well enough after to continue your life."

"What kind of game is that?" Atsushi said, raising an eye. "Is that supposed to be some peoples' definition of fun?"

"No. It's no ones definition of 'fun.' Everybody in the game hates the Magicians, and no one can ever play as one themselves. The point the game's trying to make is: you're either born as a Magician or you're not, and if you aren't, sucks to be you!"

Atsushi folded his arms across his chest. Something about what the man he saved had said last night was starting to make sense. And the more he thought about it, the more disturbing it became, like a corruption spreading across a clean pool of water.

"Do you get it?" Dazai said.

"Are you saying...is the game saying that Magicians are like ability users?" Atsushi whispered.

Dazai nodded his head slowly, and his expression became somber. "The creators of the game clearly hates ability users and wants people to be aware of the power that we hold over those who don't have abilities."

"But ability users aren't all like that. We don't just destroy things other people cherish on a whim...do we?"

"It may seem that we're fighting for the greater good, but if you ask people how they feel about the destruction that came over Yokohama during our battle against the Guild, many will say that ability users are nothing but trouble – as bad as terrorists, even."

Atsushi lowered his head.

"This game, 'The Scourge of Magic', intends to exploit that hatred people feel for ability users. People who play for longer than two months will suddenly receive an invitation to join an organization that calls itself 'The Foundation'. If you go to their website, you'll receive all kinds of information about the crimes ability users have committed and the things normal people can do to protect themselves from abilities. But at the end of the invitation, players are given a choice: join the Foundation, or delete their account in the game. And if anyone chooses the latter, that's when they get driven to suicide." 

"What? How?"

"By some combination of stalking and gaslighting, I believe." Dazai raised a finger to his chin and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm almost certain that the Foundation has some ability users themselves who can manipulate the players by means other than the game. Atsushi, did you see any ability users last night?"

With a sigh, Atsushi recounted what had happened last night during his mission, leaving out the fact that he had brought Akutagawa along. That meant twisting a few things which wouldn't make sense without Akutagawa: no Rashomon to protect him, no Rashomon to knock the man out and carry him, and no Rashomon to aid him when he lunged at the second man that had been hiding in the darkness.

At the end of the story, Dazai looked more perturbed than he had ever been since their battle with the Guild.

"A teleportation ability, perhaps?" Dazai said, rubbing his chin. "Say, Atsushi – there wasn't anyone with you but those two men, right?"

Atsushi hated lying to Dazai, and he averted his eyes.

He had made a mistake taking Akutagawa with him on the mission last night. Dazai probably saw through him like his facade was glass.

"No..." Atsushi whispered.

"All right." To Atsushi's surprise, the perturbed expression disappeared from Dazai's face. "Have fun training with Akutagawa again this afternoon!"

"Wait, Dazai...what else have you learned from that man?"

"We mostly just confirmed everything we suspected from the video game he'd been playing. Oh, I almost forgot – he told us the identity of the group who he believes has been stalking him, and that's the group we also think are the ones behind the Foundation." Dazai placed his hands on his hips and leaned down towards Atsushi. "They call themselves 'The Abilities of Science'. What a quirky name, huh?"

Atsushi blinked. He didn't have any clue who those ability users were, and that certainly didn't seem like a name that could have come from a faction inside the Port Mafia.

"Ranpo and I will keep investigating this case until we find another lead," Dazai said. "In the meantime – don't let Akutagawa beat you down too much, okay?"

"Ummm, okay."

His meeting with Dazai concluded, Atsushi decided to go out and meet with Akutagawa at their usual place.

Training proceeded smoothly throughout the afternoon, and when they finished, Atsushi invited Akutagawa to come home with him.

Inside their house, Atsushi plopped down onto a chair and opened up another bottle of chilled sake. This time, Akutagawa took a bottle from the refrigerator for himself without even asking.

"Did you find out anything about that man we fought last night?" Akutagawa asked.

Atsushi wondered if Dazai would mind him telling Akutagawa the details of their case. The Port Mafia and the Detective Agency were supposed to be enemies, after all.

But he had defied Dazai's orders last night and brought Akutagawa with him on an Agency mission, and Akutagawa was not for the first time residing in his room, them drinking sake together. They were close enough now to at least consider themselves "frenemies". And since the Agency still didn't have a proper lead on their case, what reason was there to hide the clues that they had already uncovered? The Port Mafia might even have additional information for them.

With a gulp, Atsushi turned to face Akutagawa.

If being in opposing factions didn't stop the two of them from training together, providing each other with support, then it wouldn't do to keep information hidden between them, either.

Or maybe that was just his about-to-become-drunk brain talking.

Atsushi unloaded the information he received from Dazai. As he spoke, Akutagawa listened intently, a thoughtful expression growing over his face.

Before training with Akutagawa, the only expressions Atsushi had ever seen on his face ranged from a deep grimace to a slight frown. Seeing Akutagawa appear thoughtful, almost curious, gave Atsushi the sense that there was much more to Akutagawa's life, to the palette of emotions nestled within him, than he originally gave him credit for. The trip to the slums last night had stirred the beginnings of his interest in Akutagawa and how he grew up from his abysmal past. He was starting to see sides of Akutagawa that he had never been willing to show before.

"I won't report any of this to my boss, but I will start searching for clues regarding this group called 'Abilities of Science' myself," Akutagawa said at the conclusion of Atsushi's story. "The ability we encountered last night was quite disconcerting, and I would like to delve deeper into its source."

Atsushi didn't want to dwell on the topic any further, so he leaned his head back against the wall and drank until his head began to feel fuzzy from the alcohol.

It was at that point that any inhibitions he once held were gone, meaning he could say whatever he felt to Akutagawa.

"Do you ever feel lonely?" Atsushi spoke up.

Akutagawa gave Atsushi a scrutinizing gaze. "My work naturally leads me to be on my own most of the time. Why do you ask?"

"You aren't alone now."

"That's because I have been training every day with a certain Were-tiger for the past few weeks, and this Were-tiger tends to invite me into his home after each training session to serve me free alcohol. How could I refuse?"

"You're the one who started everything." He needed more sake and took another swig. "Kissing me on the night that you moved in beside my home. Offering to go out on a walk with me, then showing me your old hunting grounds in the slums. Why would you do those things if you didn't..." He slowed his speech and stared up at the ceiling. "...if you didn't like me?"

There was a long, drawn-out sigh from Akutagawa.

He looked like he was in dire need of more alcohol as well.

"Look. In the beginning, when I met you, I hated who you were for trying to protect everyone. For trying to save someone that couldn't be saved." Akutagawa closed his eyes as he spoke his next sentence. "For being chosen by Dazai."

"That's because you were trying to destroy Kyouka, and I couldn't allow that to happen."

"I know. Perhaps some of the things I did back then were not the most...palpable."

Atsushi blinked.

Did he hear Akutagawa correctly? Was Akutagawa actually admitting his faults?

"When we met on the airship and fought together against the Guild, I saw a part of you that I felt was familiar," Akutagawa continued. "You needed approval." His voice dropped very low. "You wanted validation, to prove that you deserved to exist." He took another swig from his bottle. "But, unlike me, you somehow found the strength to fight your hardest even when you didn't get those things."

"I did get them. From Dazai, from the Agency, from realizing that I could save Kyouka. Though, I guess, I always felt like I still lacked them, deep down..."

Akutagawa's expression grew dark. "That's why I hated you more than anything. I couldn't believe someone as weak as you was able to find the things that I lacked. The things that I've always strove for."

"Then why didn't you kill me when you had the chance while we were fighting the leader of the Guild?"

"Because..."

Akutagawa looked down at the floor. A very faint tint of red rose to his cheeks. Atsushi was amazed that Akutagawa could even achieve that expression.

"Because I looked up to you." Akutagawa sighed and faced Atsushi directly, their eyes locking. "Because I wanted your strength. Because, I believed, by fighting together, I could begin to understand how you were able to achieve the things I wanted. How you are able to steel your resolve. How you could be so frustratingly persistent."

"Akutagawa..."

"Shut it, were-tiger." Akutagawa downed the last of his drink and stood up, swaying. "You better not tell anyone about what I just told you, especially not to Dazai."

"Akutagawa, your feelings aren't wrong," Atsushi said, raising himself up. "Everything you wanted – approval, validation, the right to exist – you should've gotten. You ought to have heard those words from Dazai."

Akutagawa froze.

"Dazai should've told you those things when he was your mentor at the Port Mafia, and I'm sorry that he didn't. Maybe he's changed now, which is why he was able to support me. But if he never appreciated you or valued you when you were training under him, then he was wrong. He definitely could have done better. I'm sorry that he didn't do as much for you as you deserved."

The bottle fell from Akutagawa's hand to the floor.

"I hope...I hope you can learn to find those things," Atsushi continued, turning his eyes away. "I hope you can learn to love yourself."

Akutagawa swayed towards Atsushi. He looked like he was about keel over and land face-first on top of him...

Atsushi stood up and supported Akutagawa before he fell.

Although he didn't know if it was what Akutagawa wanted, Atsushi leaned into the man and hugged him fully in his arms.

Akutagawa's body was thin, soft, not too warm.

He wanted to give Akutagawa all the warmth that he could offer. He wanted to give Akutagawa the strength to stand on his own.

Embracing like this, he felt he really could.

"Atsushi..."

When Atsushi lifted his face up, he felt a pair of lips press against his own.

They were so soft and full of longing.


	9. Chapter 9

"A fair! There's a fair in the city!"

Atsushi looked into Q's cherubic smile. Q was holding up a pamphlet advertising a fair that was coming to Yokohama in a couple of days.

"You want me to take you?" Atsushi asked, doing his best to return the smile.

"Yeah, definitely! Look, there's a ferris wheel and a roller coaster. We should go on all the different rides."

Looking into Q's dissimilar pupils, it was difficult to tell if Q was ever being genuine or if he always had some hidden intention masked beneath those strange shapes. Most likely, it was a mix of both. Atsushi had a feeling that taking Q to a fair would be a disaster, as there was a good chance Q could run off by himself and start a whole deal of trouble.

"I can try to take you there...but would you mind if I brought someone else along?"

"What? Really?" Q tucked the pamphlet into his satchel and folded his eyes. "It better not be Dazai."

"Well..."

There was no safer choice than Dazai. If Q got to using his ability on people again, only Dazai could stop him. But there was definitely bad blood between Q and Dazai, and bringing the two of them together to the fair with him would be in neither of their interests.

But who else?

"If it's Dazai, then I'm not going," Q said. "Or maybe, I'll sneak out by myself and go to the fair without any of you!"

"Q, don't do that," Atsushi said. "I'll take you to the fair, I promise."

"Without Dazai tagging along?"

Atsushi scratched his head. He had to think of an alternative person to bring along, fast.

"Hey, would you mind if I brought Akutagawa along?" Atsushi blurted out.

"What? That grumpy mad dog from the mafia?"

"Come on, he's not that bad. I've been training with him every day and we've started to get along a lot more. Maybe he can make friends with you, too."

"Ugh! You're seriously thinking of bringing Akutagawa with us to the fair?" The expression on Q's face turned acid. "He's totally going to ruin the day."

"No, no, it'll be fun, I promise!"

"Why can't it be just you and me?"

"That's because...uh..."

"You're scared I'm going to run off and start using my ability on people, aren't you?" Q leaned towards Atsushi and flashed a bright, innocent smile. "I'm not going to do that. Trust me!"

"I trust you, but there are other reasons why I want to bring a third person along. First of all, you're still tied to the Agency, and our company president might not let you go to a busy place like the fair if I'm the only person watching over you. Second, I still have training to do with Akutagawa every day, and it'll make things easier for us if he just came along."

"Awww, but it won't be any fun if he's coming with us."

"I don't think anyone else at the Agency is available on that day, and also, just give Akutagawa a chance? Please? I'm sure he'll be fun to hang out with if the two of you just got to know each other."

Q turned his head away and shut his eyes. "...Fine."

"All right! Then we're going to the fair. I'll tell Akutagawa about it this afternoon."

* * *

"You want to bring me with you to the fair with Q?"

Akutagawa's eyes shone with deadly venom. It was the angriest he had ever looked since...well, since the last time the two of them had truly fought with the intent to kill each other.

"I already made the promise to Q..." Atsushi said, gazing at his feet.

"You idiot! You should at least have asked me first. What if I had a mission to do on that day?"

"I know. I messed up."

"Can't you get Dazai to go instead? He knows how to stop Q's ability at least."

"Neither Dazai nor Q are fond of each other, as I'm sure you're aware. If I brought the two of them with me, it'll seem like I'm doing it out of spite – to Q, at least. Q won't enjoy the day at all."

"So you're considering Q's feelings over the safety of yourself and the people at the fair?"

Atsushi lowered his head again.

Akutagawa pressed his hand against his forehead and groaned. "Atsushi, can't you think before you make your promises?"

"Look, Q's been having a rough time being locked inside the Agency all day. Not to mention the kind of childhood he must have gone through, being raised as a weapon of mass destruction for the Port Mafia! I just want to let him have a day of fun to himself for once."

"And you intend to achieve that by bringing me along?"

"If I can't bring Dazai, no one else at the Agency will want to come, either. At least you know Q, so the two of you will be familiar enough with each other that you can try to get along."

"That's a bad assumption you're making, weretiger."

Atsushi hated the fact that Akutagawa regressed to calling him weretiger every time they had an argument. He'd correct him, but at the moment, he just wanted to persuade Akutagawa to come along to the fair.

"Q agreed to it," Atsushi said. "He's fine with you coming with us."

"Do you have any idea what's going on in that child's mind?" Akutagawa retorted. "You cannot trust anything he says. I don't think Q himself believes what he says. He's probably going to take every opportunity to try to use his ability on people again."

"Q's been getting better. I don't honestly believe he wants to hurt people...or, at least, he doesn't want to hurt people who haven't hurt him first. As long as we make sure he's safe and close by, nothing should happen."

"How naive can you be, weretiger?"

"Akutagawa! Q isn't the monster that you think he is. If you had just tried to talk to him, to get to know him as a person and not as a tool, maybe you would've understood. But the Port Mafia never tried. All you do is corrupt people for your own ends, like what you did to Kyouka."

With a grimace, Akutagawa turned away from Atsushi. Threads of Rashomon materialized over his coat, but they didn't attack. Atsushi watched him, ready to fight if it came down to it. He knew that Akutagawa was just the kind of person to lash out at him if he couldn't get his way.

Not that Atsushi was entirely innocent in this. He knew he had made a mistake by promising Q to take him out to the fair with Akutagawa without getting the latter's permission first. If Akutagawa wanted to beat him up for making such a promise, he would be fine with it, but he'd also fight back.

He was done with having children suffer for no reason other than being born with the wrong ability.

Or with an ability at all.

"This is pointless," Akutagawa finally said, Rashomon disappearing from his coat. He turned to face Atsushi again. "I will go to the fair with you, but this is the only time. And if Q starts up trouble, I will not hesitate to strike him down and implicate you as the cause of the problem. Understood?"

Atsushi nodded, and he couldn't help the smile from breaking out on his lips. "Yes. Thanks, Akutagawa."

"Do you always have to bring me trouble?"

"I promise this will be the last time–"

"No, it won't. You're always full of surprises, always trying to help people out of some inordinate amount of sympathy you feel for them. Do you know how annoying it is dealing with someone like you, someone who's always trying to protect and save everyone? Do you know the kind of danger you bring to yourself by doing that all the time?"

"I know, Akutagawa. I'm sorry."

Akutagawa turned up his nose and looked away. "Pathetic."

"Hey! How do you feel about yourself, always trying to look tough and never showing any amount of sympathy for others? Don't you think you come off as being crude, inconsiderate, and obnoxiously full of yourself?"

"You think that's a problem?"

Atsushi stopped himself before he could say any more.

He couldn't forget. Akutagawa was still part of the Port Mafia, an organization that thrived on power and deceit and sadistically crushing any person that opposed them. As much as he wanted to believe that Akutagawa could change, that he could become someone better, he knew that reality could never be so kind. So long as Akutagawa was bound to the Port Mafia, callousness was part of his personality.

A callousness that was inherent in his violent childhood, nurtured by the mindset that survival was paramount, cultivated by Dazai's septic training, and flourished to its height by the brutality of his everyday work.

Grown inside that kind of environment, callousness was inescapable.

How could he expect otherwise from Akutagawa?

"I'm sorry," Atsushi admitted at last. "I didn't think before saying all that. And I dragged you into something you didn't want to do."

Akutagawa said nothing.

"I'll head home now," Atsushi continued, since their training had just concluded. "If you don't want to come to the fair, I can understand. I'll just take care of Q by myself."

"Didn't you hear what I said? I told you I'll come to the fair with you."

Atsushi gave a weak smile. "Thank you. Really."

"Just don't ask for any more."

On their way back home, they passed by the building where, a couple of nights earlier, Atsushi had rescued that suicidal man.

Come to think of it, maybe that man wasn't even suicidal. Now that he knew about the organization that called itself the Foundation, and the fact that the man had probably been stalked and threatened and gaslighted by who-knows-what-kind-of-abilities, he couldn't blame the man for wanting to end it all to escape the suffering. He was just glad that Dazai and Ranpo had figured out a lead on their case in time to save him.

As for that ability user they encountered...he felt a chill go down his spine trying to imagine the kind of ability that had been used on him and Akutagawa.

Since they hadn't eaten dinner yet, they decided to eat out at a restaurant. There was a decent dumplings place in the Yokohama Chinatown that Dazai had introduced him to a month ago, so they went there.

"How do the dumplings taste?" Atsushi asked after they had eaten a few.

"Not bad," Akutagawa replied.

"Do you like the boiled dumplings or the pan fried ones more?"

"...Atsushi, shut up and eat."

"I just wanted to know so I can let you have that kind. Well, if you're not willing to answer, then I'll have all the pan fried ones."

There was something in Akutagawa's eyes, a kind of distant gaze that made him appear as if he was deep in thought. It was during these rare moments, these rare bouts of self-reflection, that Atsushi was able to glimpse into the kind of past that Akutagawa must have endured.

"To tell you the truth, I have been here before," Akutagawa spoke up. "Not recently, though. I was here when I was much younger."

Atsushi hesitated to pry deeper, but it looked like Akutagawa was going to spill everything for him without him even asking.

"We weren't always fighting back in the slums. There were a few adults who took pity on us, especially some of the store owners in Chinatown. They gave us work. It was mainly to stop us from being so rowdy, from stealing food and money...and almost inevitably, it never lasted."

"Huh? Why?"

"Gangs remember their former members. If they saw someone working at a place that used to be one of their own, they would come and trash the place. The store owners would kick the person who attracted the gang back out onto the streets if they were still alive. Invading gangs is bad for business."

Atsushi looked among the servers in the restaurants. A few of them were teenagers, but none of them were children. Still, there was a chance that some of the teenagers had been recruited from the slum gangs...

"Was that what happened to you?"

Akutagawa shook his head. "This restaurant let me work as a kitchen cleaner for a couple of months. The owner was nice and let me eat any leftover food they had at the end of the day. However, when I heard about all the gang wars that were extending to the stores, I decided to leave on my own. I didn't even bother telling the owner, in case knowing where I had gone would put this restaurant in danger."

Slowly, Akutagawa placed his elbow on the table and leaned against his hand. "In hindsight, that was rather callous of me."

"What about your sister?"

"She worked at a different restaurant, and left like me when the gangs started looking for her."

Akutagawa sighed and glanced around the room. "Maybe the owner still remembers me. Or maybe he's already gone. Who knows?"

Atsushi turned up at him. "You're not so inconsiderate after all, Akutagawa."

"Don't misjudge me, weretiger. There are only a few people in this world whom I owe my gratitude to."

"Yet you'll express sadness when you think about them. That's not like you at all – well, I mean, it's not the 'you' that I think you are."

Akutagawa narrowed his eyes. "I don't divulge any more to people about myself than is necessary. Especially not to a sob like you."

"There you go again with your mean streak."

As they paid the bill and left the store, the sun disappeared from the horizon and stars began to populate the night sky. In the brightness of Yokohama's evening lights, they could only see a few of them.

Atsushi felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked into Akutagawa's cloudy grey eyes.

"Atsushi," Akutagawa began, his voice low, "I thought about what you told me last night."

"Yeah?"

Akutagawa's fingers took a strand of Atsushi's hair and gently tugged against it. "Dazai is one of the few people I reserve gratitude for. But...you're right. The way he trained me was detrimental to my spirit, and I could have had someone better-" Akutagawa looked like his face was about to explode "-someone who could tell me that, ugh, I was worthy of living."

Atsushi giggled. "That's funny. Dazai was that person for me."

"What a bad joke."

"Yeah..."

"...I suppose I did find a better mentor after all."

Atsushi held his breath. The hand resting on his shoulder cupped the side of his face and slowly turned him towards Akutagawa's direction, where two cool grey eyes reflected the moonlight into the darkness.

"Thank you, Atsushi."

Akutagawa kissed him on the lips.


	10. Chapter 10

Q looked around at all the rides in the fair with childish awe. Beside him, Akutagawa held his hand with a deadpan expression that suggested he would rather be doing anything else than hanging out with Atsushi and Q. His eye twitched every time Q asked him if he wanted to go on a ride.

"So many rides to choose from," Q said, gazing at the roller coaster in the distance. "I really can't decide which one to go on first."

"You wanted to check out the roller coaster, right?" Atsushi said. "Or the ferris wheel?"

"Both look really fun. But since I can't choose, I want Akutagawa to pick one for us to go on together!" Q beamed an angelic smile at the man.

"I'm not sure what kind of game you are trying to play," Akutagawa responded, giving Q a death glare. "If you're thinking of sneaking off somewhere to use your ability on someone–"

"Let's not bring that up, okay?" Atsushi said, patting Akutagawa on the shoulder. "Q just wants to have some fun today, and maybe he wants you to have a lot of fun, too."

"Going on rides at a fair is hardly my idea of fun."

"It doesn't have to be a ride. Maybe we can play one of those dexterity games?" He pointed at a stand where people were scooping up goldfish using some kind of hoop they could only hold with their mouths.

"Fine. Let's see what that game is."

There was a long lineup in front of the stand, probably due to the fact that there were only three bowls for players to try on at a time. It cost three hundred yen for a single thirty-second attempt.

Atsushi went first. He hadn't thought it would be hard to scoop goldfish out of the bowl with his mouth when he was watching other people do it, but when he tried it himself, he found that the hoop-rod was way too hard to control, and using it to catch tiny goldfish swimming in a large bowl was nearly impossible. Before he had even touched a goldfish, his time was up.

Q tried next, and like Atsushi, he struggled just to move the hoop through the water with his mouth. After dropping the hoop twice, a frustrated expression came over his face, and for a moment Atsushi was afraid that Q would do something drastic in anger. But he just stood there, glaring down at the fish in mild annoyance, until the last few seconds of his time ended.

"Not going to try," Akutagawa said, moving out of line.

"What? Why not?" Atsushi asked.

"This game is clearly impossible, and the people behind the counter know it. Judging by the fact that each bowl still has about ten goldfish, probably not one person has been successful in scooping one out. It must require hours of practice."

"Then why did you agree to come to this stand?" Q asked, throwing Akutagawa an angry look.

"Because, it got you to shut up about asking me which ride I wanted to go on."

"Hey, let's not try to flare any tempers here," Atsushi said.

Akutagawa huffed, but Q smiled instead.

"That's okay," the boy said. "Since we're done here, you have to choose the next ride to go on! And I won't go on any ride unless Akutagawa chooses it."

"Seriously?" Akutagawa folded his arms. "Why are you so insistent on making me choose the ride?"

"Because – the ride isn't what matters. It's whether or not all of us have fun going on it, and right now you're the one that's having the least amount of fun!"

Atsushi gaped at Q's words. He never expected Q to show that level of concern for other people, though in hindsight, he never understood what kind of relationship Akutagawa and Q shared. Not that he suspected they had any sort of friendship at all given their places within the Port Mafia. Maybe everyone treated Q badly at the Port Mafia, and precisely due to Akutagawa's loner personality, Q had never interacted with him enough to have had any unpleasant experiences involving him. Or perhaps it was possible that Q thought a lot more about other people than he had originally assumed.

It could even be that Q was learning to be concerned about others after the friendship Atsushi had shown to him.

"Quirky, aren't you?" Akutagawa said, giving Q an odd smile. "Don't think you can deceive me by pretending to care about me. I wonder what kind of malicious intentions you're hiding behind those words?"

"None at all!" Q replied, his smile growing wider. "I just want all of us to have a fun day together."

"Akutagawa, don't accuse him of bad intentions so quickly," Atsushi said. "Q's been stuck at the Agency every day for weeks. He's probably just excited to be able to hang out at the fair with someone that he knows."

"Being held inside the Agency must be a dream compared to the room we kept him in at the Port Mafia."

"Can't we just leave all of that behind?"

"Looks like Akutagawa just doesn't want to have any fun," Q said, his smile fading into an angry frown. "Maybe we should leave him, Atsushi, and go on some rides by ourselves."

Akutagawa swerved towards Q and scowled. "No. I don't trust the weretiger to handle you by himself."

"Then why don't you stop being so grumpy and just choose a ride already?"

"I will, if that's what I need to do to keep you under control." Akutagawa pointed towards a swinging ship ride. "That one."

Q brightened again.

Atsushi found himself earnestly confused at the dynamic that existed between Q and Akutagawa. He thought about probing into their past relationship with each other at the Port Mafia, but decided against it in case he became responsible for ruining Q's day of fun at the fair.

They went on the swinging ship ride, which had Q screaming in delight every time the ship descended. Next, they went to a scrambler where each seat was shaped like the cockpit of a small glider.

"Looks like it's only two to a seat," Atsushi said. "Q, want to go with me or Akutagawa?"

"Hmmm..."

"Any preference, Akutagawa?"

"I would rather go with you, Atsushi," Akutagawa said in a mysteriously titillating tone. "Leave Q scared in a seat all by himself."

"All right, I want to ride with Akutagawa!" Q shouted, throwing Akutagawa a dirty look and grabbing him by the hem of his coat.

"I knew you would say that," Akutagawa replied.

Atsushi watched in amazement as the two of them climbed into a seat together. He had a feeling that there was some kind of an "all-according-to-plan" dynamic between them. But Q seemed to be enjoying himself, and Akutagawa was starting to get better, too, so he didn't mind it at all.

The ride wasn't as thrilling as he expected, but maybe that was because he had already had the experience of flinging himself through the city, jumping from ledge to ledge as a tiger when he needed to get to a place quickly. Q definitely enjoyed it.

"We'll go to the roller coaster next," Akutagawa suggested, and Q nodded his head.

There was a mini-roller coaster which was just a short ride around a circuit and a bigger one that involved a steep drop followed by two loops. Akutagawa had meant the bigger one.

The lineup for the larger roller coaster was the longest one in the entire fair. At the back of the queue, it looked to be about thirty or forty minutes before they could reach the front. Atsushi was starting to feel hungry, and he noticed many people in the queue had brought food to eat in small cartons while they were waiting. He didn't know if eating before going on such a fast ride would be a good idea, but he also found his growling stomach to be a problem.

"Could you save a spot for me in the line?" Atsushi spoke up. "I want to go get some food."

"We could if you return in less than twenty minutes," Akutagawa said, tilting his head towards the segment further ahead in the line. A railing prevented anyone from jumping the line once they were about halfway down the queue.

"I'll look for something quick."

"Get me something to eat, too!" Q shouted.

"Okay. What do you want, Q? Cotton candy? Popcorn?"

"How about...a severed head?"

Atsushi blinked.

"Just kidding!" Q flashed his brightest grin. "A hot dog would be nice. With mayonnaise and mustard topping, please."

"Ummm...you got it."

As he left the line to head towards the nearest hot dog stand, Atsushi felt shivers go down his back.

If that was Q's sense of humour, he was going to have a hard time convincing anyone that Q was ready to be allowed to wander out of the Agency by himself. At the same time, Q never made any dark jokes before. Maybe he was just being influenced by...Akutagawa?

Atsushi glanced behind his back and saw Q and Akutagawa having a conversation together. Q had a surprisingly bright smile on his face, and it honestly looked kind of genuine.

Just what kind of relationship existed between those two?

He bought a hot dog for Q and onion rings for himself, then realized he should have asked Akutagawa what he wanted to eat as well. Though, in reality, Akutagawa would probably tell him not to bother.

When he came back with the food, they were almost past the railing-guarded segment of the queue. Atsushi could feel a couple of annoyed stares drilling into his back as he hopped back into the spot Q and Akutagawa had saved for him. He kind of felt bad about doing it, too.

"Thanks for the hot dog, Atsushi!" Q said.

"You're welcome." Atsushi turned to face Akutagawa. "Sorry I didn't get any food for you, though."

"It's fine. I was not planning on eating anything before boarding the roller coaster, anyway. When the two of you puke up all the contents of your stomach, try not to spill any of it over me."

"That won't be possible if we're seated right next to you," Atsushi replied with a sly grin.

Akutagawa groaned. "Maybe I will have to find a seat by myself somewhere far, far away from you both."

"Come on," Q said, giving Akutagawa a light nudge. "We've all been through worse than a roller coaster, right?"

"Good point," Atsushi replied. "We practically experience free fall and upside-down jumps every day in our training, right Akutagawa?"

"It's different when you are in a roller coaster. They constrain you with seatbelts and guards so you feel helpless when you fall." A slightly evil smile came over Akutagawa's lips. "Not that any of those can stop me if I really wanted to break free."

Atsushi thought he almost saw dark threads of Rashomon materializing over the surface of Akutagawa's coat.

When they got onto the ride, Atsushi and Akutagawa and Q sat in a row of three and buckled up together. Q threw his hands up into the air as the roller coaster climbed its initial ascent. At the peak, they stopped for a few seconds, allowing them time to observe the landscape below as well as to see parts of the city. It was really no different than the times Atsushi had fought up on high ground, and certainly far less intense than the battle he had had with the leader of the Guild on top of their airship.

The roller coaster plunged. He screamed anyway.

After a series of high speed twists and loops and turns, they ended up back at the station where the ride began. Q looked exhilarated, and a little bit nauseous.

"That was more intense than I thought," Q said, clutching his stomach as he climbed out of the seat.

Akutagawa stepped away from him.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to puke." Q gave Akutagawa a large, glowing smile. "I'm still a bit hungry, actually. Want to go for lunch?"

"Yeah, lunch sounds good," Atsushi said, and Akutagawa shrugged.

They found a food court inside the fair where they each bought burgers, fries, and a drink. Q appeared to be enjoying the day immensely, and even Akutagawa was starting to look happy. Well, happy might be a bit of an overstatement, because Akutagawa rarely smiled. But the expression on his face wasn't the usual grimace that he wore. It looked more...neutral, as if he didn't care that he was spending time at the fair, but also that it wasn't a bad thing to do, either.

"Want to try more carnival games after we've eaten?" Atsushi asked.

Q nodded enthusiastically.

They went to play a target-shooting game that had obviously been rigged to make each shot less accurate, and then a basketball game where Q was able to make enough shots to win a prize. He chose a cute fluffy white tiger.

Atsushi felt goosebumps when he saw Q holding that white tiger doll.

"Afraid that I'll use my ability?" Q said, his eyes merry.

"Well, uh..."

"Don't worry! My ability only works with specific dolls, and only the Port Mafia owns copies of those dolls. As long as I don't get my hands on one of them, I can't activate my ability on anyone."

Akutagawa clasped his hands together. "Q wants to get rid of his ability."

"Huh?" Atsushi responded.

"When the Guild captured and tortured him, he realized that his ability was only a burden on him." As Akutagawa spoke, Q stared down at his feet. "The Port Mafia had weaponized him for his entire life, and so long as he has access to that doll, people like the Guild will continue to find ways they can use him to pursue their ends. If he can never have access to those dolls, he will never be used again."

Atsushi turned to face Q.

"It's true," Q said softly. "I don't like my ability, even though I sometimes really want to use it on people I hate...does that mean I actually like it?"

"I think it's better that people aren't able to use you as a weapon," Atsushi replied. "Maybe it'll be best for you if every copy of that doll was destroyed."

"Impossible," Akutagawa said. "The boss would never allow it."

"But we don't intend on giving Q back to the Port Mafia."

"He still wants to keep them as a precautionary measure in case we ever need to use Q again." Akutagawa sighed and stood up from his seat. "You know how the Agency and the Mafia are willing to cooperate if a dire situation ever strikes the city. That's why we have not tried to get Q back yet."

Atsushi's eyes grew wide. "Is this the Agency's true intention for keeping Q?"

"I don't know." Akutagawa turned away from their table. "Let's go on a few more rides."

Q had a dejected look on his face, and Atsushi really felt sorry for him. But as soon as Akutagawa suggested that they go on the ferris wheel, Q appeared happy again.

The lineup for the ferris wheel was almost as long as the one for the roller coaster. It took twenty-five minutes for them to arrive to the front. Since four people were allowed in each car, Atsushi, Q, and Akutagawa went in one together.

The top of the ferris wheel was higher than even the peak of the roller coaster. When they reached the top, they were able to get a clear view of the city.

Atsushi loved the sight of Yokohama at dusk. With the Sun slowly descending behind the horizon, the sky was awash with a mosaic of colours: red, orange, purple, yellow, and blue. The nighttime lights of flashing billboards and signs were slowly starting to appear on the buildings in the city. And he noticed a pair of grey eyes fixed intently upon him.

He returned a soft smile.

When they disembarked, Akutagawa immediately went over to the back of the queue.

"I don't want to go on the ferris wheel again," Q said.

"Well, I do." Akutagawa pulled on Atsushi's arm, much to Atsushi's surprise. "Just the two of us, this time."

"Why?" Atsushi asked.

"I have something to show you," Akutagawa whispered in response.

"Oh, so you're going to leave me all alone?" Q protested.

Akutagawa's eyes were serious. "Meet us later at the fair entrance."

"Fine. I'll just go on all the other rides by myself!" Q said, stuck out his tongue, and stomped off.

Atsushi felt his face burning up all over again. "Akutagawa, what's this all about?"

"You'll understand when we get on."

"But Q–"

"Leave him. He doesn't have that doll to use his ability with."

Atsushi gave a slow nod, still feeling unsure.

Twenty-five minutes later, when they were inside another car, Akutagawa waited until they were about halfway up to the top of the ferris wheel.

He leaned towards Atsushi and gently placed his fingers on Atsushi's head, sifting through his hair. Atsushi gazed into Akutagawa's eyes. The deep light reflected into those grey orbs from the rising glow of the city at night was so pretty.

Atsushi reached up and took a strand of Akutagawa's hair to rub in between his fingers.

"Akutagawa...are we on the ferris wheel again just so we could...?"

"Be quiet."

Their lips touched.

Atsushi eased himself into a long, slow kiss, relishing every taste of Akutagawa he could get. And all the while, he couldn't stop feeling ashamed of himself. What if someone from the Agency saw them doing this? Sure, they were high up on the ferris wheel, but there was always a chance that someone who knew him was in a nearby car.

At Akutagawa's insistence, he shut those thoughts out from his mind and allowed himself to drown in the body of the man who held him, whose hands softly caressed his hair, whose grey eyes shone such a luminescent green glow...

Atsushi parted from Akutagawa and stared out the window.

"Was this what you wanted to show me?"

"Yeah. I saw it during our last ride."

Far away, on the outskirts of the city, an ominous green mist rose out of the blue darkness. The mist moved like the wind, crawling along the city's edge, expanding to encircle Yokohama in its entirety. It was slowly moving towards the fair.

Atsushi turned around. "I need to call Dazai."


	11. Chapter 11

When they got down from the ferris wheel, most people were leaving the fair as it was near closing time. Atsushi called Dazai and told him about the green mist he saw in the man's apartment a couple of days ago and the similar mist that was now encircling Yokohama. While he made the call, they walked to the entrance of the fair to see if Q was there.

"The Agency are going to investigate," Atsushi said when he finished the call. "They're going to head to the edge of the city and find out where the mist is coming from."

"What a pain," Akutagawa said, tucking his arms into his coat. "The Port Mafia will probably get involved in this, too."

"If the threat really is that dire, we might end up working together again."

"You say that as if you want that to happen."

Atsushi's face dropped. "Is that so bad?"

"It doesn't matter. Whoever my opponent is, I'll destroy them without your help. If the boss sends me out on a mission to defeat whomever's behind that green mist, I should expect you not to interfere."

A thick silence hung between them as they walked. Atsushi didn't like how Akutagawa always reverted back to his cold, rigid attitude. He felt that those soft moments they shared, those few times when they were willing to kiss each other, didn't really exist. As if those moments were quaint bubbles existing outside of reality that were too easily popped.

When they reached the fair entrance, Atsushi was disheartened to find that Q wasn't there at all.

"Should we go and look for him?" Atsushi asked.

Akutagawa responded with a shrug. "He might still be on a ride."

"But all the rides in the fair are closing. They're ushering everyone out."

"Then who knows where Q might have gone?" Akutagawa's expression was a grim kind of calm. "He might have gone back to the Agency, or he may have even returned to the Port Mafia."

"Q wouldn't do that."

"You think you know what's going on in that boy's mind?"

"Why do you talk about him like he's always got ulterior motivations? Q's just a child. I'm sure he only wanted to come here today to have fun. Plus, weren't the two of you getting along?"

"Q is an unpredictable force of chaos. You're foolish if you believe anything that he says."

"What?! So what was all that about him saying that he wants to get rid of his ability? Was that just a lie, too?"

"Who knows?"

"Akutagawa, you're the one who decided to leave him alone. If we can't find him, then it's your fault."

"Can you please shut up?" Akutagawa grabbed Atsushi by his shirt. "Taking Q out to the fair was your decision, and I'm sure nobody else thought it was a good idea. Don't implicate me in your problems."

Atsushi pushed him away. "But he wouldn't have gotten lost if you hadn't wanted to go a second time on the ferris wheel."

"It's closing time!" a fair employee shouted at them. "Sorry, but you're going to have to leave. We're closing the park immediately."

"But we're looking for someone," Atsushi replied.

"If we find someone still in the fair after it's closed, and they're lost, we'll take them to the police station."

Atsushi gulped. He didn't want to reveal that the person they were looking for was a child with an extremely dangerous ability, even if that ability shouldn't be capable of being activated without his doll.

"We'll head to the police station, then."

Once they were ushered out of the park, Atsushi followed Akutagawa, who appeared to be heading in the direction of the police station. He was surprised that Akutagawa cared enough about Q to want to search for him and wondered if he had misjudged his intentions. The police station certainly wasn't close to the Port Mafia if that was where Akutagawa wanted to go. And it was also quite a distance away from their homes.

They passed by the old hill where Atsushi had first met Dazai, and where the two of them had been just a couple of days prior. Both knew it was too early to wait at the station yet, since they'd need to wait for the fair employees to bring Q there if Q had still been in the park. Akutagawa stopped at the hill and sat down on the grass.

"We should stay away from each other for a while," Akutagawa spoke up.

Atsushi walked up the hill. "Why?"

"Too many ways for our objectives to conflict. I'm from the Port Mafia; you're a member of the Agency. If we end up fighting each other..."

"I won't fight you."

Akutagawa shifted his head to look up at Atsushi. "Not even if I came for your life?"

"I hope it won't come to that."

"Hope is pointless. You should always expect your enemies to be coming after you."

"But...we're not enemies anymore, are we?"

"Do you always live in a dream world full of ice-cream and puppies?" Akutagawa gave out a long sigh. "Regardless of our relationship with each other, our allegiances to our companies take precedence. Would you really say that you'd choose me over the Agency? Not even you would be that naive."

Atsushi sat down beside Akutagawa and gazed at him with quiet eyes.

"I'll keep you and the Agency."

"...You really do live in a dream world."

"I don't want to fight you, and I also want to keep working for the Agency and to protect my friends there. I'll just treat you as someone else that I'd have to protect. That way, no matter what the mission, I'll never have to end up fighting you."

"Are you really that foolish?"

"When it comes down to it, the Agency and the Port Mafia really aren't enemies, are they?"

Atsushi was surprised he was able to see that after all the things the Port Mafia had done. He thought he'd never be able to forgive them, especially not someone like Akutagawa. But things had a way of playing out in ways he could never predict. He never imagined he'd end up...respecting, even liking, the man that rested in the grass beside him. He had always thought that people like him were irredeemable. They were too deep in their own evil to ever change their ways.

But in the days that he'd hung out with Akutagawa, he had started to see a side of him that resonated with his own past. A side that developed out of a childhood of hunger, violence, and hardship. He saw in Akutagawa's eyes the want – no, the need for approval, for someone to say that he had the right to exist. And he saw in every one of Akutagawa's actions the need to prove that he had earned that right.

To prove to Dazai.

Things weren't ever so simple. Dazai had been the man that saved Atsushi, and for a while, Atsushi had really believed that Dazai was perfect. That he wasn't someone who could have had a past steeped in the darkness of the Port Mafia, someone who had been responsible for training and torturing Akutagawa and depriving him of all his self-worth. He felt shivers just thinking about the ways someone as intelligent as Dazai could have made Akutagawa suffer. That was a relationship no one ever deserved.

But then, somehow, Dazai had also been the one who saved him.

There was this odd triangular relationship connecting Akutagawa, Dazai, and himself, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never break out of it. That was why he'd stopped trying. It was why he stopped resenting Akutagawa and learned to appreciate him enough to invite him over to his house for sake. And, regardless of how coldly Akutagawa presented himself, he had a very warm and supportive side. A side that could silently listen to another person's pain and suffering and not only bear it with them, but understand them.

He had seen in Akutagawa's eyes, whenever they fought, a degree of self-loathing and torment that no one deserved. No human being should ever crave for the right to live to that level of tenacity.

So, he would never be Akutagawa's enemy.

"We won't have to fight each other," Atsushi said, extending out a hand. "I'll make sure of it. And I'm certain Dazai will, too."

Akutagawa stared back suspiciously, but his expression slowly relaxed.

"The Agency might not make us enemies, but my boss will certainly not hesitate if you get in the way of his plans."

"If that ever happens, why don't you just not do it?"

"What? The boss will have my head."

"Maybe, you could leave, like Dazai did, and join the Agency instead?"

Akutagawa laughed.

A loud laugh. A gentle laugh. An insane laugh.

"Impossible. My sister..." Akutagawa shut himself up and steeled his expression before he could follow through that line of thought. "You're too foolish."

"Maybe I am."

"So? You're just going to hope that we'll never end up fighting each other? Continue our current relationship in this flippant manner, as if we were never enemies?"

"I guess that's all we can do."

Atsushi still had his hand out for Akutagawa.

A quiet minute passed as neither of them spoke, only gazing into each other's eyes, trying to find the source of each other's resolve.

Akutagawa finally took Atsushi's hand...

...and pulled him down to the grass with him, where he wrapped his arms around Atsushi's body and kissed him on the lips.

It was such a deep, long, passionate kiss. Atsushi buried his face into the man before him. Their tongues touched and Atsushi felt a warmth rising deep inside him at the feeling of Akutagawa so close and hot. He breathed in his fragrant scent. He tasted Akutagawa's lips, soft and moist. His tongue darted around, longing for the taste of every inch of Akutagawa's mouth. He wanted to give every bit of his warmth to the frail, pale body that pressed tightly against him yet with a tenderness that he had never felt from anyone else before. A tenderness that he realized he had always wanted.

Akutagawa pushed away and looked into Atsushi's eyes.

"You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen," Akutagawa said. "That dusk colour, lavender and gold."

"I never expected to hear anything like that from you."

"...If I were to kill you one day, I'd take care to preserve your eyes."

"You're awful."

Atsushi wrapped his arms around Akutagawa and held him as firmly and closely as he could. He wanted more warmth, even if Akutagawa felt a little cooler than most people.

He didn't know why, but he was beyond caring who saw them together like this.


	12. Chapter 12

Atsushi stood up and looked in the direction of the police station.

He felt more than a little guilty about having a makeout session with Akutagawa and completely neglecting Q. He didn't even want to think about the trouble he would get into if he came back to the Agency with the news that Q had gone missing. Kunikida would kill him, Dr. Yosano would revive him, and then Kunikida would probably kill him again.

"If we can't find Q at the police station, maybe we should go back to the fair and search for him," Atsushi said.

"Who said I would help you look for Q?"

"Akutagawa, you're still partly responsible for letting Q out of our sight!"

"Fine. But if we can't find Q, I am not coming with you to the Agency to deliver the news."

"Didn't ask you to. Just help me find him."

Atsushi prepared to walk away from the hill when an immense green fog materialized over the horizon, shrouding the tips of the highest buildings in the city. It passed like a cloud over their heads until the entire sky became covered by the transparent green mist. People were coming out of their cars and buildings and wondering what was happening to the sky.

The mist was sweeping across the entirety of Yokohama.

"Should I call Dazai?" Atsushi asked Akutagawa.

"They must have seen this mist by now. If they plan to do something, they'll call you. You also don't want to reveal that you've lost Q."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"In any case, I doubt we are getting any sleep tonight. If we don't find Q soon, I will head back to the Port Mafia."

"Akutagawa..."

"What is it?"

Atsushi turned his head away. "Nevermind."

A shot resounded through the air.

"Finally found you, Atsushi Nakajima."

At hearing that familiar voice, Atsushi spun around and saw a man wearing a mask walking towards him, pistol in hand. It was the same man he had encountered several nights ago inside the apartment.

"Who are you?" Atsushi responded. "Are you responsible for this green mist?"

"That's not my ability," the man replied. He stood about eight metres away from Atsushi and Akutagawa, hands extended out with his pistol pointed at them. "As for who I am...I'll introduce myself, but first, tell me who that person is beside you."

Akutagawa took a step towards the man. "Does it matter what my name is? If you oppose me, I will crush you."

The man stiffened. "I don't recall someone like you being a member of the Agency. Judging by your attitude, you must be from the Port Mafia. In that case, I have no reason to oppose you...yet."

"Cut the pointless talk." Threads of Rashomon rose out of Akutagawa's coat. "Tell us what your motives are."

"And if I don't?"

"Then prepare to be struck down."

Rashomon burst out and flew towards the man. With a laugh, he jumped out of the area of the first two strikes, ducked to avoid a third, and dove to his left to avoid a blade coming from the side that was aiming for his head. But he was almost too slow. The dark blade slashed across his face, slicing his mask in half and cutting a thin line of blood from his cheek to his forehead.

The man fell to the ground and jumped back onto his feet instantly. Behind the mask was a face that Atsushi thought he had seen somewhere before, yet his memory of where and when that had been were too opaque. He took a step towards the man but stopped when a bullet was fired near his feet.

"Do you remember me now?" the man said, pointing the gun straight at Atsushi. "It's been nearly ten years, hasn't it?"

"Are you..."

Something about the man's voice conjured an image in Atsushi's head of books in a basement, a dark library sequestered in the depths of his old orphanage. He remembered the nights spent underneath towering bookshelves, reading alone to himself, but for a short time there had been someone close beside him. Someone who loved books filled with science and spaceships and fleet captains exploring the faraway reaches of the galaxy...

"I can't remember your name," Atsushi said. "But you were there with me. At the old orphanage, right? You used to read books with me in the basement library!"

"So you do remember." The man raised a hand to wipe the blood away from his face. "Those were fun nights, weren't they? Pity that we meet again on opposing factions."

Akutagawa walked towards the man nonchalantly. "I'll ask again. What is your motive?"

"That's not something we need to discuss at this moment. Atsushi Nakajima, could you tell this brute to stop attacking me?"

"I don't know you anymore!" Atsushi responded. "You were the one who avoided me during our last days together at the orphanage. What happened to you?"

"Ah. I must apologize for that. I didn't know back then that you had an ability..."

"So why are you back? And why are you pointing that gun at me? Do you want to get rid of me so badly because of my ability?

"No. Not because of your ability." The expression on his face suddenly changed. His sagging shoulders became upright, and he lowered the gun to his side. Burning eyes glared at Atsushi. "To deliver justice to the ability users that have wrecked this city and the world."

"That would make you my enemy regardless," Akutagawa said. "Are you ready to die for your convictions?"

The man turned to face Akutagawa. Something gleamed in his eyes. "Die? Don't be absurd. You can't defeat me."

"We'll see about that!"

Rashomon surged out behind Akutagawa like a black tidal wave. At his command, the dark beast flung towards the man, a tornado of lethal blades.

"Very well," the man said. "Prepare yourself."

"Akutagawa!" Atsushi called out. "He has some kind of an ability, too. Watch out!"

"三体 – Three Body*."

Atsushi's body was flung through space, experiencing something similar to what he had felt that night where he had been teleported out of the apartment with Akutagawa. Mirror images of himself flashed around him, and he felt like he was being squeezed and projected through multiple different dimensions, new axes of space appearing and disappearing all around him...

He opened his eyes and found himself hanging off the edge of a car at the top of the ferris wheel inside the fair.

With a gasp, Atsushi pulled himself up onto the car and looked around, wondering what had just happened. The fair was empty and the sky was dark behind the filter of the green mist. He looked around, trying to find Akutagawa or the man, but no one was there.

"Feeling lonely?"

Atsushi looked up.

Sitting in the top car of the ferris wheel was the man, his gun pointed down at Atsushi. "Sorry, but I had to get rid of your friend before his ability became too troublesome. My ability, Three Body, allows me to teleport any three people who are close to each other to any location I choose. Don't worry – I merely put your friend in the middle of the river. Judging by his strength, he'll probably survive."

"So that's the ability you used on me that night."

The man pulled the trigger. Atsushi barely had time to transform before the bullet struck his left arm. He jumped out of the man's sight and used the strength of his tiger form to hurl himself up into the air, aiming to land on the car that held the man. Two more bullets shot past him as he flew, neither of them hitting. He saw the man in front of him and aimed for his throat.

"Three Body."

Space around Atsushi distorted. He felt the fabric of reality vomiting him out onto the floor...an unpleasant feeling, to say the least. When he looked around, he saw that he was standing on the ground in front of the ferris wheel.

Two bullets instantly struck him through the chest. Pain exploded into his senses and he collapsed to the ground.

"Glad to be acquainted with you," a different man's voice said.

A taller man with short gray hair and brown sideburns stood over Atsushi, gun pointed down at his face. Before he could fire, Atsushi used all his strength to propel himself up from the ground, backflipping behind the man and aiming a kick at his head.

He found his leg striking air as the man ducked to avoid the blow, a greenish mist appearing in the space where his head used to be.

Atsushi landed back on his feet as the man approached him.

"I see you've met Liu?" he said, smiling. "In case you're wondering who was the third person Liu used his ability on, it was me. I was watching your battle from another car up atop the ferris wheel."

"Are you another one of them?" Atsushi replied, grasping at his wounds. "The group that wants to eradicate ability users from this city?"

"Yes." The man spread out his arms to encompass the whole sky. "The green mist that you see is of my making. My ability, Foundation**, is the power of prediction. All that resides within the space enclosed by the mist is at my mercy. I can predict your every action to a ninety nine point nine degree of accu–"

Atsushi lunged at the man, but he simply sidestepped out of the way. A green mist filled the area that Atsushi fell through.

"Don't think about it, boy," the man said. "All of Yokohama is enclosed by my ability. The mist is also radioactive, so no one can leave. I can predict the actions of every person in this city."

"Why are you doing this?" Atsushi asked. His pain was lessening due to his tiger's regenerative abilities, but he wasn't at his full fighting capacity yet. "Do you really hate ability users that much?"

"Are you aware of the destruction your abilities have wrought upon this city? The Agency, the Port Mafia, the Guild – every one of you are guilty of endangering the lives of the normal people. So long as you continue to exist, you will always be a danger–"

"We aren't like the others!" Atsushi shouted. "The Port Mafia and the Guild might be criminals, but the Agency is resolved to protect the lives of every civilian!"

"Do you really think you can protect people when your mere existence puts them in danger?"

Another bullet flew towards Atsushi, grazing his right hip. He turned around and saw Liu walking towards him from the ferris wheel.

"Atsushi," Liu said, pointing his gun at Atsushi's face, "you've always been so naive. Do you honestly believe your city is a better place just because the Agency exists? Think about what happened during the war with the Guild. Had you not interfered, the Guild would not have had to resort to drastic measures like using Q to control the minds of half the population. And if you hadn't continued meddling, they wouldn't have needed to drop their airship over the entire city."

"What?! We were the ones who stopped them from blowing up Yokohama! You're saying we should've just let them destroy us?"

"That's precisely the problem. If the Agency hadn't existed, there wouldn't have been an all-out war across Yokohama. By fighting, the destruction increases tenfold. All ability users are guilty of endangering innocent lives by the mere crime of existing. That's why we aim to eradicate all ability users from this planet."

"But – you're ability users yourselves!"

"When the time comes, we too will have to die."

Liu turned to face the other man. "Asimov. Your power has been cast over the entire city, correct?"

"Yes. I know the movements of every individual in Yokohama."

"You might have to watch out for the man named Dazai, though. His ability is the power to cancel any other ability, which means if he gets too close to the mist, he might be able to create an opening."

"Don't worry about it. The mist is radioactive. If he tries to touch it, he'll die."

Atsushi's eyes grew wide.

Summoning up the full power of his tiger form, he lunged at the two men.

"Three Body."

Everything around Atsushi turned into liquid goop, and his body experienced the sensation of sliding across eleven different dimensional axes before being regurgitated out on top of the roller coaster's highest drop.

Liu stood several metres away inside the station where the roller coaster car came out of.

"Sorry, but you'll never be able to touch me," Liu said.

"Stop that!" Atsushi transformed into his tiger form and rushed down the coaster tracks.

"Oh, Atsushi. Always so clueless." Liu threw his pistol away and stepped onto the rail tracks. "Amongst ability users, I am the most guilty. That's because I've committed the crime of possessing not one, but three different abilities."

Atsushi lunged towards Liu, claws aiming for his head.

"黑暗森林 – Dark Forest***".

Liu disappeared, and all light vanished around Atsushi, leaving him in total darkness.

"Hey! What happened?"

He could not see anything and could only move by feeling the ground and walls. The bumpy roller coaster tracks were difficult to walk on, so he jumped off and landed on the ground. Still, he was in total darkness. There was no difference between opening and closing his eyes.

Atsushi began to feel scared and lonely.

"Inside the Dark Forest, complete darkness is an asset," Liu's voice rang out. "There is an invincible, blind hunter trying to find you. When it does, you will certainly perish. Best not to make any sound while you're hiding!"

"Liu! Where are you?"

"Do I need to repeat myself? Keep your voice down, or the hunter will find you."

"Come back!"

Silence.

The hopelessness of his situation quickly settled in.

This stifling darkness brought to Atsushi a memory of him being locked inside the darkest room in the orphanage for two days without any food or water. It was one of the worst memories of his childhood. He had cried his eyes out while pounding on the door, begging for someone – anyone – to let him out. Eventually, he gave up and sank to his knees.

For two days, inside that dark room, without anything to eat or drink, not even a toilet that he could use, his body and his soul rotted.

When they finally let him out, they found scratch marks he had made all over the door and walls.

Atsushi ran through the dark forest, trying to keep the tears from returning. He couldn't help crying when everything around him, this total darkness, reminded him of the time he had spent inside that hell within the orphanage.

He screamed into the darkness. He wanted someone to find him. Anyone.

Something transparent and spherical, with pale outlines, whizzed out of the sky and barrelled down towards him. Atsushi didn't know what it was, but for a moment, he was happy that he was able to see something that wasn't total darkness.

That happiness didn't last as he saw how fast the sphere was moving towards him.

Before Atsushi could dodge out of its way, the sphere slammed into his chest. Atsushi experienced the sensation that every bone in his body had just been vapourized. He was crushed to the ground and couldn't move an inch. Black blood shot out of his mouth and a more absolute darkness, the end of his vision, quickly came over his eyes...

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the faces of Dr. Yosano, Akutagawa, and Dazai.

"That was one hell of an impact you took," Yosano said. "If we had just been a second too late, you might've been beyond the point of recovery."

"Atsushi!" Akutagawa yelled. "Are you all right?"

"Akutagawa...? Where am I?"

Dazai helped Atsushi sit up. "You were running around screaming blindly through the amusement park. Then something slammed into you and you finally stopped running."

Atsushi rubbed his head. "You were all there?"

"You couldn't hear us even though we were calling for you," Akutagawa said.

"It was an ability," Atsushi responded. His chest still ached from the pain of being struck by that transparent sphere.

"Does it have something to do with this green mist covering the city?" Yosano asked.

With a sigh, Atsushi began relaying everything he had heard and experienced.

* * *

*Three Body: A book by scifi author Cixin Liu. It's based on the unsolvable "Three Body Problem" in physics.

**Foundation: A novel series by scifi author Isaac Asimov.

***The Dark Forest: The sequel to "Three Body".


	13. Chapter 13

Atsushi woke up, finding himself lying on a bed in Dr. Yosano's office. He looked around, trying to remember what had happened last night. Akutagawa was nowhere in sight.

"Careful," Yosano said, leaning over him. "Your regenerative abilities and Thou Shalt Not Die are healing your body pretty quickly. Still, after that hit you took, you should stay in bed for a while."

"I can't," Atsushi replied. "Where's Akutagawa?"

Yosano quirked an eyebrow. "You want to see him that badly?"

"Is he all right?"

"Last I saw of him, he looked just fine."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Why are you so concerned about him?" Yosano shook her head, but she was smiling. "By the way, Q's gone. They've taken him."

"What?!"

"Probably taken by the two ability users you described to us last night. We received a message from the organization called the 'Foundation' this morning. They informed us that they have taken Q hostage, and gave us an address."

The world swirled before Atsushi's eyes. He almost felt like he was going to get vomited through another space-warping dimension again. Colours swam in chaotic formations around him, even Yosano's face turning into indiscernible shapes. After coughing, he began to feel a bit better. Yosano returned into a solid figure before his eyes.

"Atsushi? Are you all right?"

"Sorry...I'm just feeling...not so good. The others aren't happy about me losing Q, are they?"

Yosano eyed Atsushi with a blank expression. "Excuse me? Why would they be unhappy with you? It's the Foundation that kidnapped Q, not you."

Atsushi blinked several times in a row.

It dawned upon him that, given how badly he had lost the fight against Liu, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe that he had still been with Q when the Foundation attacked. As a result, it was hard to think that it was his fault for losing Q. The only person who knew otherwise was Akutagawa.

Atsushi closed his eyes and tried not to drown in his looming fears. He realized that he wanted Akutagawa at his side more than anything. Though he'd never admit it to him, he loved the way Akutagawa made him feel. He loved the way Akutagawa always put on a strong demeanour and a casual air even in battle. It made him feel confident.

With Akutagawa beside him, he felt he could take on the world.

"Sorry, my head's feeling a bit funny," Atsushi replied. "Anyway, what's happened to the city? And what are we going to do about the Foundation?"

"The green mist is still covering the city. A lot of people are panicking, but the city officials are telling everyone to keep calm and continue on their daily business. Some have already contracted radiation poisoning from being near the city outskirts, so they've put up barricades to prevent anyone from leaving. Unfortunately, for those who work near the harbour, they've got nothing to do since no ships are coming in." She put on her sharp, sly smile. "If we don't get things in order quickly, people are going to start revolting."

Atsushi stared up at the ceiling lights. "This is what the Foundation wants, isn't it? A revolt in Yokohama against all its ability users."

"Yeah. We're coming up with a plan right now to deal with the Foundation using the information you told us yesterday."

"Can I come listen?"

"Of course. You're invited as soon as you recover. Are you feeling well enough to leave your bed yet?"

Atsushi gave a nod. "I want to go now."

"All right. Just don't strain yourself..." That impish smile never left her face. Atsushi knew what she was hinting at.

Slowly, Atsushi got out of bed and put on his usual clothes. When he walked out the office into the Agency hall, he was surprised to find Akutagawa standing beside the wall waiting for him.

"Akutagawa? You were here all this time?"

A firm hand grabbed Atsushi by the arm and pulled him close. Akutagawa stared at him menacingly. "I think the secret is already out."

"Secret?"

Akutagawa leaned in close and whispered, "the fact that you and I are in a close relationship."

This was the first time they were talking about their relationship inside the Agency. Atsushi felt his face turn burning red. Anyone could be listening to them at this moment! Dazai, Kunikida, Tanizaki, Yosano, Kenji...

Worst of all, Kyouka.

He really didn't want any of them to find out.

"I'm sorry," Atsushi whispered. "I don't know what I could've done."

"Perhaps you could have refrained from inviting me to your day out with Q yesterday. That would have made things a lot easier for both of us."

"Sorry..."

"What happened after we encountered that man was he used his ability on us, the two of you disappeared, and I fell into the river. When I swam out, Dazai was there waiting for me. He seemed to have expected that the two of us were going to be there, and was surprised that he found only me. Our priority turned towards searching for you, and I suggested that we go to the fair. That was all the hint Dazai needed to figure out that something was going on between us. Normally, I wouldn't have cared where you were, and I certainly wouldn't have suggested a place like the fair."

"So you helped them find me. Thank you, Akutagawa."

Akutagawa swivelled around and pushed Atsushi up against the wall. "Dazai suspects that, in addition to training, the two of us have been dating."

"...Is that so bad?"

A venomous glow shone in Akutagawa's eyes. Atsushi could almost see the black strands rising out of his demonic coat.

"Let's think about the consequences for once. If word gets out that the Agency's weretiger and the Port Mafia's so-called 'mad dog' are dating, how would my boss react? He might begin to question my loyalty to his organization and send me out on a mission far away from the city for a very long time. I'd probably never see you again."

Atsushi's face dropped. He had never even thought about the ways that the Port Mafia could destroy their relationship. Now he realized how fragile it all was, like a spider clinging on a thread flying in the wind.

The words that Akutagawa had spoken last night made a lot more sense. Because they were on opposing factions, they really couldn't stay together. They were destined to be enemies.

There was also the other choice: Akutagawa could leave the Port Mafia and try to join the Agency. Like Dazai, he'd be hunted for the rest of his life...no, even joining the Agency in the first place was going to be a problem for someone like Akutagawa. That option was a pipe dream.

"Sorry," Atsushi could only say. "I never knew."

"Now that you do know, perhaps it's time for us to distance ourselves." Akutagawa finally let go of Atsushi's arm.

"Wait. Right now, there's a bigger problem for us to worry about, isn't there? Maybe we could still work together. Both the Agency and the Port Mafia consider the Foundation to be their enemy, right?"

"I haven't heard anything about the Foundation from my colleagues or my boss."

"What? Haven't they seen the green mist everywhere?"

"I know, but the Port Mafia right now considers itself to be at a disadvantage compared to the Agency due to the fact that we've lost Q. Therefore, if any conflict involving the Agency springs up, they are willing to let the Agency fight it out and lose a few of their numbers first before they come to your help."

"Are you serious?"

"It's common sense tactics. If you haven't figured that out yet, weretiger, you need to get your head fixed straight."

Atsushi watched as Akutagawa turned around, coat billowing behind him, and walked to the exit of the Agency without paying him another word.

The world swam in his eyes again.

Of all the things that he didn't want to happen, the people that he didn't want to lose, Akutagawa had somehow climbed to the top of his list. His heart ached, and his knees gave away. He crumpled to the floor.

He didn't want to believe that this had happened.

Any of this.

Why Akutagawa, out of all people? Hadn't he hated that man in the past? It would be so easy if he could go back to those times, go back to hating him with every fibre of his being. After all, Akutagawa wasn't exactly a clean, moral person. He was the mad dog of the Port Mafia, an unrepentant murderer, the man who had tried to murder Kyouka both physically and mentally. An unforgivable monster.

And yet...

After everything, after all that had happened between them, he couldn't think of Akutagawa in that way anymore. No matter how hard he tried to force himself to believe that he didn't like Akutagawa, that nothing bonded them together, he could never forget the closeness that he felt to him, the shared feelings that they had for each other. Their emotions, the way they held each other in their arms, the times they had trained together, the sake they had drank in his room, the walks they had taken across the city, their day with Q at the fair, their kiss...

He couldn't forget him. He could never let go of Akutagawa.

"Feeling better, Atsushi?" Dazai's voice, coming out of a room at the corner of the hall. "Want to join our meeting?"

Atsushi returned to his feet, a dejected expression on his face. He steeled himself and nodded. "Y-Yes," he stammered.

Right now, there were more important matters to take care of. His aching heart could wait.

Could it?

The whole Agency except for Dr. Yosano was inside the room. A monitor screen displayed what Atsushi presumed to be the message that the Foundation had sent them: a video recording of Q, bound and gagged and unconscious, surrounded by two familiar-looking men, and the address that they could go to if they wanted to bring Q back.

Atsushi felt nauseated. Not for the first time, Q was being used and potentially tortured as a means to some group's destructive ends.

"To bring you up to speed on what we know of so far, we are dealing with two extremely dangerous ability users," Kunikida said. "Thanks to your information last night, we at least have an idea of how to deal with their abilities now."

"Not quite," Dazai said. "When we hacked the Foundation's servers and tracked their movements, we discovered that their whole organization consists of just three people. Yet, we've only seen two of them."

"The third person might not be an ability user that we have to worry about," Tanizaki said. "Didn't Atsushi say Liu has three abilities? That alone would be enough to make up for two non-ability users."

"And we still don't know his third ability yet," Kunikida added.

Dazai turned to face Atsushi. "We've figured out a way to handle the first two abilities. Three Body, which is a teleportation ability, can be nullified if there are less than three people at any given time that Liu can use his ability on. Since Liu can always use himself as one person, that means he needs two other people. That ability won't work on me due to No Longer Human. So, we can fight him directly if one other person comes with me and we isolate him. The other ability, Dark Forest, appears to be a mind-altering ability much like Q's. Assuming it doesn't work on me, all I need to do is stay close to the other person fighting with me so that I can cancel Dark Forest every time he uses it on that person. This just leaves his last, unknown ability. Whatever it is, I'll probably remain immune to it."

"The problem lies with the other ability user, Asimov," the company president, Fukuzawa, said. "As long as the radioactive mist encircles Yokohama, he can accurately predict all our plans."

"The key lies in that it is merely a prediction ability, not a future-seeing one," Dazai said. There was a somewhat far-off look in his eyes. "Just because he can predict all our movements doesn't mean he can stop them. If we come at him with a fast and crippling blow, his predictions can't save him. All he would be able to do is predict his own demise."

"To achieve this, we will form two groups," Fukuzawa said. "Group One will consist of Dazai and one other Agency member. They will seek out Liu and isolate him. Group Two will consist of the rest of the Agency, including myself. We will lead a fast and hard strike on the Foundation, directly following Group One, to take out Asimov and the rest of their organization as quickly as possible."

"Who's going to be in each group?" Kyouka asked.

Dazai's eyes rested upon Atsushi. "Atsushi will come with me to form Group One."

"Okay," Atsushi mumbled, bowing his head a little.

"Then the rest of the Agency who have abilities will be Group Two," Kunikida said.

"I'll do my best! But what about Dr. Yosano?" Kenji asked.

"Dr. Yosano has also agreed to come with us for backup."

"We will lead the strike at sundown," Fukuzawa said. "The goal is to take out Foundation's power core, its ability users, and rescue Q."

Ranpo took out a box of snacks. "Guess I can't come?"

"Uh, well..." Tanizaki began, blushing, "since you don't really have an ability–"

"Shut it!" The detective stormed out of the room.

Atsushi remained with Dazai in the room while everyone else left. He wanted to feel ready for the mission, but his heart wasn't. All his heart wanted to see and feel was Akutagawa.

Dazai faced him with a capricious smile. "Don't you feel like we're walking straight into a trap?"

"Huh?"

"This message on the screen here is the only thing the Foundation has sent us. And all the information we have about their abilities and goals is just based on what you heard and experienced yesterday. When we lack knowledge, going on the offensive is deadly."

"Then why did you agree to this mission?"

"Because, no matter how you look at it, we can't win this fight if we lack information. By taking the Foundation head on using the knowledge we already know, we might be able to extract more information out of them." Dazai placed a finger on his chin and looked up at the ceiling. "Somehow, I think the third member of the Foundation will have a strong role to play."

"So, we're going on a potentially fatal mission just for information?"

"The probability of success for this mission is quite low, but I'm confident we can obtain some useful knowledge out of it."

"What if someone dies–"

A phone call interrupted Atsushi before he could finish his sentence. Dazai answered it immediately.

"Bad news, Atsushi," Dazai said when the call ended.

"Who called?"

"Akutagawa. They've taken his sister, Gin, so the Port Mafia have to get involved now."


	14. Chapter 14

The Agency was gathered in front of a tall storage building situated in the middle of the Yokohama slums. Both the address the Foundation had given them as well as the address of the servers which Dazai had hacked pointed to this building as being the right place. The only people they were waiting for to show up were the Port Mafia.

"I've given the Port Mafia a basic outline of our plan," Dazai said to Atsushi. "They shouldn't interfere too much with our objectives. Their main goal is to rescue Gin and get out, leaving us to do most of the heavy work."

"Is Akutagawa coming?"

"Of course. You expect him to sit by idly while his sister's a hostage?"

"Do you know when he'll arrive?"

With a smile, Dazai patted Atsushi on the head. "You're really concerned about Akutagawa, aren't you? Don't worry about him. He can take care of himself."

Atsushi blushed.

"Okay...but Group One's objective rests on us two being the only ones to confront Liu. If anyone from the Port Mafia comes–"

"If anyone from the Port Mafia comes, they will join with Group Two to inflict as much havoc on the Foundation as possible until they are able to find Gin. In the worst case, Gin and Q are with Liu, which is why we need to isolate him as quickly as possible. Given that Liu doesn't have any heavy offensive capabilities, this shouldn't be too difficult."

Atsushi nodded, but a feeling in his gut told him that something was about to go wrong.

He had fought Liu and Asimov before. Both ability users had seemed far too confident in their abilities to worry about the Agency being a threat. And why would they capture Gin if that meant they were only going to have to take on both the Port Mafia and the Agency at once? It felt like they were all being lured into one big trap.

Liu's third ability – what could it be?

"They might have their minions waiting for us when we enter," Atsushi said.

"Then we take all of them out."

"But while we're fighting their minions, they could attack us by surprise and separate all of us from each other with that teleportation ability."

"Stay by my side, Atsushi. I'll keep watch over the entire battle so I'll know if anything happens." Dazai smiled. "They won't be able to get in an ambush on us."

"I hope you're right."

"Ready, Atsushi?" Kenji said, placing an arm on his shoulder. His smile was sun-bright. "No matter who's waiting for us in there, we're ready to take them on. So long as I'm full, that is."

"Thanks, Kenji."

"Yeah, don't worry about it!" Tanizaki said. "You just charge ahead with Dazai and we'll support you with our attacks."

"That's right. With us at your back, you can concentrate on the mission ahead," Kunikida said in his cheesy voice.

Only Fukuzawa remained quiet.

"Thanks, all of you," Atsushi said, blushing a little.

He couldn't believe himself. Every member of the Agency was ready for the mission, and here he was, being a downer despite how important his role was on the front lines.

It was all because of Akutagawa.

More than anything, he wanted Akutagawa to be here, fighting at his side.

As long as they were together, they could take on any opponent. With Akutagawa beside him, he wouldn't mind fighting the entire Foundation.

"Let's go in," Dazai said suddenly. He gave a hand signal that Group One was moving out.

Atsushi gulped.

He let go of the feelings in his heart.

"Okay."

Atsushi and Dazai rushed into the building. They found themselves standing inside an empty hall with only one door at the other end that led to a flight of stairs. With Group Two behind them, they gingerly made their way towards the stairs.

"Be careful," Dazai said. "Empty rooms are never a good sign."

"I'll watch for signs of movement."

"Don't slow down."

To his surprise, two minutes later, they made it to the other end of the room without being attacked. He didn't even see a single moving shadow.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Atsushi asked.

Dazai nodded slowly.

"But we just went across that whole room without being att-"

"Focus."

"Sorry."

With the utmost caution, they began climbing the steps. Atsushi's heart thumped in his chest. He had a bad feeling about what awaited them.

His feelings were correct: he was in no way prepared to see what was at the top of the stairs.

Rows of young children sat along the walls of the hall, each drinking from big bowls of soup. They wore tattered clothing and were covered in dirt, much like the orphans Atsushi had seen in the slums when Akutagawa took him that night. The children turned their heads to face them in a scripted manner, angry expressions on their faces. Before Atsushi could say anything, they started shouting.

"Down with the Agency!"

"All ability users are murderers!"

"You never cared about us!"

"Ability users are scum!"

"We had no food while you ate like kings!"

"The city was almost destroyed because of you!"

"Ability users must die!"

"The Agency are criminals!"

Atsushi was too stunned by their outburst to react. He could hear Group Two coming up the stairs behind him, and he didn't want them to be subjected to the same sight. Especially not Kyouka. A welcoming like this would be too cruel for her.

The Foundation had gathered all the starving children of the slums and brought them here, where they were given food and a script to enact when the Agency would arrive.

A hand tugged on Atsushi's arm, snapping him out of his reverie.

"We have to go," Dazai said. "Ignore them."

"But, D-Dazai–"

"Remember our mission."

Atsushi swallowed, trying to hold back his emotions. "Okay."

For the first time in his life, Atsushi shut out all his feelings.

One by one, his feelings of happiness, his sadness, his anger, his fear, the friends whom he loved, his loneliness, Akutagawa – they all disappeared. His heart became empty. Only an empty heart could bear the sight and sounds of this hall.

He ran and ran, guided by Dazai, ignoring all the insults the children threw at him, ignoring his feelings of pity for them, ignoring the overwhelming injustice that lingered over this hall – an injustice that he knew they, the Agency, had partly been responsible for.

The rows of hungry children screaming at them seemed to go on forever.

At last, he saw the last child, sitting at the end of the hall. She threw her spoon at them. It sailed by Atsushi's head, barely missing his ear. He didn't look at her.

Past the hall was the next flight of stairs. Behind him, he could hear the startled expressions of Kunikida and the rest of the Agency.

"I'm glad you were able to go through that hall," Dazai said as they climbed the stairs. "When the Port Mafia comes, they probably won't spare the children any mercy–"

"I don't even want to think about that," Atsushi said through his teeth.

Dazai turned away. "The world is cruel. We have to bring an end to its cruelty."

Atsushi thought about how Akutagawa would feel when he would walk through that hall. He didn't want Akutagawa to see that. Resolve filled in him to defeat Liu and rescue Q and Gin before the Port Mafia arrived.

There was another hall at the top of the stairs that opened into a much larger chamber. Standing in this chamber were the two men of the Foundation, Asimov and Liu.

"Wait," Dazai said, motioning for Atsushi to stop. "If you walk in with me, Liu will have three people to use his ability on. I'll go in first by myself."

"Okay."

Dazai walked into the room and was greeted by having two guns pointed at him.

"We predicted your arrival as well as your entire plan," Asimov said. "Give up, Dazai. You cannot defeat us."

"Hold your guns. You gave us such a rude welcome," Dazai responded. "But did you really think that was going to work?"

"No. We merely wanted to show you the Foundation's good intentions for the city. Once we've established ourselves here, we intend to clean the city slums. We'll make our headquarters a home for all the orphans that have been cast away by your greedy, wasteful society. Any child who does not have parents or a home is welcome."

"Wait. What do you mean, 'establish yourselves' here?"

Asimov dropped his gun and laughed. "Dazai. I thought you would be smart enough to figure out what our real intentions would be."

"We told Atsushi that we were going to eradicate the Agency because we predicted that would make all of you come here," Liu said. "And our predictions were correct."

"It's true that our ultimate intention is the elimination of all ability users in the city, followed by the world," Asimov continued. "However, this is not a practical goal. For now, all we aim to do is to establish ourselves as a third faction of ability users in the city. Do you see why this is?"

Dazai suddenly stiffened. "Triangular diplomacy."

"Precisely. Currently, the Agency and the Port Mafia are the reigning ability user factions in Yokohama. This is not stable, because if any one faction were to overpower the other, they would become the dominant faction in the city. However, if there were three factions in Yokohama, then if one of the factions were to grow too powerful, the other two could join together to take them down. This was what happened when the Guild came to the city. And it's the equilibrium we intend to create so that ability users will never abuse their power to hurt innocents."

"You got one thing wrong," Dazai said. "The Guild failed, and they are no longer a force in Yokohama anymore."

"That's because they were too short-sighted, and offered no benefits to the city's inhabitants. We have already saved the city's children. Do you really think you are doing the right thing by kicking us out?"

Dazai placed a finger on his chin. "The Agency and the Port Mafia are already a stable equilibrium because we know what all of our abilities are. Right now, you are creating instability because we don't know as much as we could about your abilities."

"We intend to keep it that way," Liu said. "Compared to the Port Mafia and the Agency, we are few in number, so we have to hide our abilities in order to maintain an advantage."

"And that's precisely why we're here." Dazai angled his body to look behind at Atsushi. "To collect information on all your abilities."

Without warning, Dazai charged towards Asimov and Liu.

A flurry of bullets struck Dazai, and he crumpled to the ground. Atsushi gasped.

Dazai shattered, Tanizaki's illusion fading.

At once, the entire Agency charged into the room – and Atsushi sprinted in alongside Dazai to get to Liu as quickly as possible.

"Three Body."

Kenji, Tanizaki, and Fukuzawa disappeared.

Atsushi pounced on Liu, grabbing his body with his claws and throwing him out of the chamber into the room beyond, which was a smaller storage facility. Behind him, he heard Kyouka, Kunikida, and Yosano striking at Asimov. Gunfire and explosions raged across the room.

Together, Atsushi and Dazai charged into the room they had thrown Liu into and immediately shut the door behind them.

Liu had crashed into a stack of crates, and his pistol lay out of reach by the wall. Atsushi quickly crushed the pistol.

"We knew this was your plan, and yet we still fell for it," Liu said, getting to his feet. He was still smiling. "But do you really believe you can defeat me?"

Atsushi tensed.

"I'll let you revisit your hell, Atsushi," Liu said, pointing a finger at him. "Dark Forest."

Everything around Atsushi turned black.

He expected Dazai to come at any moment to save him.

The room remained dark.

Panic rose up into Atsushi's chest. He could feel the sensation of death gurgling up out of his throat. Why wasn't Dazai saving him?

"Dazai! Where are you?"

Atsushi began running.

He didn't want to die in this lonely darkness.

Not again.

He ran as fast as his tiger could carry him.

"Liu!"

"Kunikida?"

"Tanizaki?"

"Yosano?"

"Kenji?"

"Kyouka?"

"...Akutagawa?"

Atsushi stopped running. He wasn't getting anywhere.

He fell onto his knees. All he wanted to do was scream.

In the distance, something transparent and spherical was hurling across the sky, searching for him. A hunter in the dark forest. And he was its prey.

The darkness was too much for him to bear.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Atsushi looked at the sky again, and the sphere came hurtling down.

So, this was it.

It was his time to die.

He closed his eyes, hoping that the impact would end it quickly. Hoping that he wouldn't die in miserable pain and suffering.

His life was over.

"Atsushi!"

Atsushi's eyes shot open.

"Atsushi! Where are you?"

It was Akutagawa's voice.

"Akutagawa?"

"Atsushi! You're there, aren't you? Snap out of it!"

The sphere hurtled down towards him, so fast that he knew he'd have no time to save himself even if he tried.

"Rashomon!"

Black tentacles flew in front of the sphere and wrapped around it, stopping its descent.

A hand touched Atsushi's shoulder, and light flooded the dark forest.

He looked up to find Akutagawa and Dazai standing by his side.

"I'm sorry, Atsushi," Dazai said. "As soon as you got hit by Liu's ability, Liu charged at me with a knife. I was distracted by him for a while, which was why I couldn't help you – plus, you started running around the room, screaming everyone's names, so it was hard for me to catch you. Then Akutagawa came and stopped Liu."

Atsushi looked up into Akutagawa's concerned eyes. "Thank you."

"Can you get up?" Akutagawa asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine, really – I wasn't hit or anything." Atsushi took Akutagawa's hand and rose to his feet. He turned and saw Liu lying against the wall, pinned by Rashomon.

"Wait," Atsushi said. "There's three of us here."

Akutagawa raised an eye.

"He should be able to use Three Body on us," Atsushi said. "Me, you, and himself. Only Dazai is immune to it."

Liu gazed up at them. Blood was seeping out of his chest from where Rashomon had pierced through him.

A vicious smile came over his face.

"My final ability," he said, touching his wound and smearing his hand with blood.

Dazai walked towards Liu, knife in hand.

"I'll kill you before you can use it," Dazai said.

Liu turned his eyes towards Dazai, and his smile grew wider.

"Where are you keeping Gin?!"

Hundreds of threads of Rashomon rose out of Akutagawa's coat.

Atsushi held his breath, ready to spring. Blue lightning encircled him, catalyzing his transformation.

Dazai raised his knife.


	15. Chapter 15

"My final ability," Liu reiterated, struggling to move against Rashomon's hold. "Before I die, all ability users will fall. The Agency and the Port Mafia will crumble. Yokohama will be cleansed of your stain. And even without me, the Foundation will continue."

"I won't give you the chance," Dazai said, standing inches away from him.

Liu grinned as Dazai's arm came down towards him, knife aimed at his face.

"死神永生 – Death Is Immortal*."

At once, Dazai froze solid.

Dazai's entire body became dark, like a shadow, until he took the appearance of an identical copy of Dazai that was completely black, with no discernible features.

Atsushi looked at Dazai in disbelief. He had never seen a person – no, not even a stone – as still as Dazai was.

Akutagawa, in similar shock, recalled Rashomon to let go of Liu. "What did you do to him?!"

"My final ability," Liu said, steadily rising to his feet, "is activated only when I have received a mortal wound."

Atsushi backed away. Liu placed his arm into the hole in his chest as he walked towards them, smiling.

"Death Is Immortal is the ultimate killing ability," Liu said in a raspy voice. "Using my blood, I manipulate spacetime around my opponent to create a domain exactly the size of their body. Within this domain, the speed of light is zero. Since nothing can move faster than light, they effectively become frozen forever. Light cannot pass in or out of them, and they, in turn, are trapped for eternity."

"Impossible!" Akutagawa shouted. "That shouldn't work on Dazai! No Longer Human should be able to cancel any ability!"

"No Longer Human only works on whatever Dazai touches. Don't you see? There is nothing for Dazai to touch. I manipulated spacetime around him to create his domain, his prison. He has not been harmed. For all time, he shall remain in that perfectly preserved singularity."

Atsushi and Akutagawa backed up against the wall as Liu approached them, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"It's been fun," Liu said. "To be honest, I'm fond of you, Atsushi, and I'm sorry for being scared of you during my last days at the orphanage. I'll kill you and your friend last. But if you try to stop me, I'll erase you."

Liu walked out the door.

"This is madness," Akutagawa said, jumping towards Dazai. He crashed against Dazai's frozen figure as if he had hit a solid wall. "Dazai! Say something!"

"He's gone..." Atsushi said, looking at the Dazai-shadow that remained. "He's really gone."

"No, he isn't!" Akutagawa banged his fists against the shadow. "Dazai, use your ability! Do something! Come back!"

"Didn't you hear? Dazai can't escape that..."

"Shut up!" Akutagawa yelled, sinking to his knees. "Atsushi...go and save everyone. Please."

Nodding, but feeling hopeless, Atsushi went out the door.

He wished he hadn't.

Yosano and Kunikida stood, still as a statue, their bodies turning dark. Kyouka unleashed Demon Snow onto Liu, but the demonic goddess froze solid before its blade could touch him. Liu's blood swirled around Kyouka, and she began to grow dark as well.

"No!" Atsushi screamed.

Out of the corner of his vision, Atsushi saw the three remaining members of the Agency charging into the chamber.

"Three body."

Kenji, Tanizaki, and Fukuzawa blinked into existence right beside Liu. Blood swirled around them, and they were instantly dark statues as well.

Atsushi fell to his knees.

"I've done my best," Liu said to Asimov, who lay on the ground bleeding. "Is this the end of the Foundation?"

"The third will continue it. All that's left is to take out the Port Mafia."

"I'll get to it."

"Can you still walk, Liu?"

"I can. I will erase all the ability users in Yokohama before I die."

Akutagawa charged out of the room, Rashomon a billowing tsunami of writhing teeth and claws behind him. The expression upon his face was the most murderous Atsushi had ever seen.

"Where's Gin?!" Akutagawa yelled.

"No!" Atsushi shouted. "He'll–"

"Shut up! Atsushi, get out of here while you can. Get out of this city! Run for your life, and never look back!"

A tendril of Rashomon closed around Atsushi and raised him up into the air. For a moment, Atsushi was too stunned by everything to transform into the tiger to break himself free.

"Let go of me!"

"Run, Atsushi."

Atsushi was hurled through the window with what must have been all of Akutagawa's strength.

"Akutagawa!"

His body smashed through glass, and he transformed just in time to stop himself from becoming a pancake on the ground. In his tiger form, he twisted his body around so that he landed on four feet.

He stood somewhere inside the middle of the slums while Akutagawa remained in the darkness of the building.

If Akutagawa had attacked Liu, then he was definitely gone.

Atsushi fell down and didn't want to get back up.

As he was about to close his eyes, perhaps forever, he suddenly saw an old man standing over him. The man had short, neatly combed brown hair and a thick mustache. He held a book in his hands.

"Need a hand?"

Atsushi opened his eyes. "Who are you?"

"Someone who can lend you some help." He knelt down beside Atsushi and smiled. "What happened in that building over there – it's all too terrible, isn't it?"

The man had a funny accent, but he sounded kind...if not also a bit crazy. But his smile was genuine.

"How do you know that? Who really are you?" Atsushi asked.

"I'm the third member of the Foundation."

Atsushi shot up. "You! Look at what you've let happen! The entire Agency has been destroyed. And Liu intends on killing all the ability users in the city!"

"A regrettable thing indeed."

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"Originally, I supported the Foundation's mission. But after seeing them resort to using children to achieve their goals, I changed my mind."

"How can we stop them now?"

The man stretched out his hand again. "I have an ability, too. I've never used it before. Not once in my entire life. But now, I see a possible use for it that could save everyone."

"Can it defeat Liu's ability?"

"My ability is called The Time Machine.** I can use it to send you back through time, back to any moment you want." He leaned down towards Atsushi. "Think hard about the times you want to return to, Atsushi, times where you wish things could have been different. One slight change in the past could have immense ramifications for the future. Search for critical moments. Look for those moments where a single tweak could prevent everything now from happening.

Atsushi could hardly believe him.

He thought about what he wanted to change about the past. There were so many moments, so many possibilities to rewrite the past that for a minute he was silent, paralyzed by all the possibilities open before him. And he didn't even want to think about the consequences if he chose wrongly.

But he did have an answer. He came up with a moment upon which their entire future hung.

"Can you bring me back to the orphanage? Back to a time when I was reading books in the basement library, with a boy named Liu. A night when the moon was full."

"I can."

The old man placed his hand on Atsushi's head and muttered the name of his ability under his breath: "Time Machine".

The world disappeared around Atsushi.

* * *

He was in the body of his young self again. But he remembered everything about what had happened, years in the future. Everything about the Agency, the friends that he loved, Akutagawa. He was resolved to save them all.

They were in the orphanage's basement library, reading books under the light of the moon that shone in through the window. Himself and Liu.

"What a good book!" Liu yelled, jumping to his feet as he closed the book that he held in his hands. "I know you don't really like science fiction, Atsushi, but you should really check this one out. The heroes are soooo smart, and you won't believe the plans they came up with to defeat the alien invaders!"

Atsushi looked at his own book that he held in his lap. Cinderella.

He had always been a fan of fairy tales.

"Thanks, Liu," Atsushi spoke.

For a moment, he was surprised by the feminine sound of his own voice. It would take some time for him to adjust to his child's body.

"Come on, read it!" Liu said, forcing the book into Atsushi's face.

"Okay, okay," Atsushi said. He took the book from Liu and smiled. "What did you like most in the story? Don't spoil anything!"

"Aww, that's going to be hard," Liu replied. He placed his hands on his hips and thought carefully.

Atsushi noticed that the light coming in through the window was growing brighter. He began to feel the power of the moonlight slowly transform his body. Because he had all the memories of his adult life, he knew how to control his ability much better. And he would control it, this time. No matter what.

"So the space invaders wanted to take over Earth to farm a special resource," Liu said, winking when he said 'special resource' to imply that it was a spoiler. "They had a weapon that could destroy Earth's entire military. So the heroes came up with a plan to put Earth's entire supply of that resource onto a single ship and send it out to space. The aliens started to chase after the ship. During the chase, the heroes came up with a plan to study the aliens' technology with a strategy like catching a fish with bait. Basically they baited the aliens again and again to reveal more and more of their secrets by promising to stop the ship carrying that resource. The aliens fell for it every time. Eventually Earth had enough technology to fight them and stop them from taking over!"

"That sounds great, but you also just revealed the plot of the entire book," Atsushi said with a giggle.

"Oh, oops! But the book's so good, you should still read it."

"All right, I'll read it." Atsushi put Liu's book on top of Cinderella. "There's a full moon tonight, you know. The moonlight coming in's gonna be really bright."

"Yeah, so?"

"It's going to great for reading."

"It's not that much brighter."

"Actually...Liu, there's something I need to tell you. Will you listen carefully?" Atsushi put on his most innocent smile. "It's really important."

Liu sat down beside him. "What?"

"You have to promise me something. No matter what I tell you, or what you see happen to me, you won't think any less of me as a friend. Can you promise me that?"

"Ummm...I guess?"

"Can you say it for me?"

"I promise I'll be your friend, no matter what you say or what, uh, happens to you."

"Okay."

Atsushi sighed and stared down at his lap. His transformation would begin soon, and he had to prepare Liu to see it.

"I have an ability," Atsushi said, exhaling. "Under the light of the full moon, I'll transform into a white tiger."

"You what! Atsushi, you've got to be kidding!"

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but I've been keeping it a secret from everybody because I'm afraid of what they'll do if they find out." Atsushi's head sunk. "But the thing is, abilities are what people are born with. It's not their fault that they're born with the ability that they have. That's why...that's why I don't want you to hate me, no matter what I am."

Liu leaned towards Atsushi. "Hey. You're right. I can see some white fur forming over your neck!"

Atsushi giggled again. "Yeah. Pretty soon, I'll become a full white tiger. When that happens. I don't want you to be afraid, okay? I'm still the same person that you know. I'm still just Atsushi. Your friend."

Liu's eyes grew wide as more and more of Atsushi's body began to transform.

For a moment, he looked like he was about to jump to his feet and bolt away.

But Liu remained sitting by Atsushi's side, transfixed by what was happening before him, his eyes filled with more curiosity than terror.

"This...this is incredible!"

"You still believe it's me, right, Liu?"

"Yeah...yeah, I think it's you."

"Thanks. I knew you'd keep your promise."

"But...Atsushi, how does this happen?"

"It just does. This is what abilities are."

"So...you were just born like this?"

"Well, I wasn't born a white tiger. But I was born with the ability to become a white tiger, especially under the moonlight. And not everyone knows that they have an ability. Who knows – you might discover you have your own ability, Liu."

"That's amazing. I kind of want an ability, too!"

"But one thing. Sometimes, abilities can make you really powerful, and when that happens, you have to remember: never use your ability to hurt yourself or another person."

"Okay. Wow, you sound really wise right now, Atsushi. Is that because you're becoming a tiger?"

"May...be."

"Woah. Your voice is starting to turn really deep, too. You're still just Atsushi, right?"

"Yeah. I'm still Atsushi. Hey, you know what? Let...me...show you...let's...read...your book...together. I'll stay...up all...night to...read...it...with...you."

Atsushi found that he could no longer speak. His transformation into a tiger was complete.

As a child, the physical limitations of his body prevented him from transforming back into a human while the moon was full. For the whole night, he had to remain a white tiger.

The white tiger cub picked up Liu's book and opened it to its first page. Liu looked into his eyes, smiling with wonder. Then he sat down against his white fur and they began reading the book together.

They read through the whole book that night, curled up against each other.

* * *

A voice sounded through Atsushi's head.

"Are you done? Have you completed what you wanted to change about the past?"

"I think so," Atsushi responded in his head.

"Shall I bring you back to the present?"

"Yes."

"The present may not exist as you know it anymore. Think of a time just before the present that you want me to take you back to. I'll try to bring you there."

"What about the night that Akutagawa and I spent visiting the slums?" An image of that night flashed through Atsushi's mind.

"Hmmm...I believe I can take you there."

"All right. Thank you."

Atsushi felt his consciousness leaving the body of himself as a child. Inside, he said goodbye to Liu. He hoped what he had done was enough to change the future.

Most of all, he hoped he could save Akutagawa.

He landed back into his body just as he received a phone call from Dazai.

* * *

*Death Is Immortal (Death's End): The third book in the trilogy by Cixin Liu that starts with Three Body Problem.

**The Time Machine: A work by early scifi author HG Wells. He was a known socialist who would likely support the plan of bringing children out of the slums.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hello? Atsushi? Enjoying your night out?"

"H-Hi! How are you doing, Dazai?

"Just calling you to make sure you're doing all right. Training with Akutagawa going well?"

"Yeah."

"We haven't had much to do at the Agency lately, and you always leave halfway through the day. That boy...Q, he really wants to hang out with you more often."

"Uh, okay, got it. By the way, have you had any cases to work on lately?"

"Nope. None."

"Well, I guess that's good, then. Things in the city are peaceful."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering. I guess I'm getting kind of bored, too."

"Well, if you ever need someone to hang out with..."

"That's okay, Dazai. I'm going with–"

Atsushi looked into Akutagawa's murderous eyes. He remembered that it was better not to reveal his relationship with Akutagawa in case the Mafia boss got wind of it. "–I'm going through the city, trying to find some place to eat."

"Oh, really? Is there anyone else with you?"

"...No. Why would there be?"

"Well, I was just wondering. Akutagawa probably gets lonely sometimes, and now that he's living beside you, maybe he'll find time to hang out with you?"

"...Dazai, do you really think we're that close?"

"I don't know. You could be."

"Anyways, I found a place. Gonna have to go."

"Okay. Bye, Atsushi!"

"Bye."

Atsushi hung up the call and breathed a sigh of relief.

"How do you feel, lying so blatantly to Dazai like that?" Akutagawa asked, looking over him with a puzzled expression.

"It's better to keep things secret between us, right? Word getting out could become dangerous."

"...You have more brains than I thought, weretiger."

"It's Atsushi. Can't you remember?"

"Fine. Atsushi."

With a smile, Atsushi raised his head to face the sky.

He had changed the future. He had saved everyone, and nobody would ever know of it. Nobody, except possibly that strange man, that third member of the now non-existent Foundation, who had the ability to send people back to the past.

* * *

The things that happened over the next few days were surprisingly similar to the events that he remembered had happened in that other timeline.

He had a night of drunken confessions with Akutagawa, followed by visiting the dumplings store in the Yokohama Chinatown where Akutagawa had worked briefly at in the past, and then the day out at the fair with Q. The only notable difference was that there were a lot more children running around in the slums, which was more similar to the past that Akutagawa remembered.

Deep down, Atsushi felt a little sad that no one would come to look out for the slums' children.

When they were riding the ferris wheel at the fair, Atsushi looked out the window, half-expecting to see a green mist encircling the city. But he didn't see anything. Only the calm orange skyline of Yokohama as the sun descended beyond the horizon.

He wondered what had happened to the other members of Foundation in this timeline.

"We should go on the ferris wheel again," Akutagawa mentioned once they got off.

"Huh? Why?"

Akutagawa grabbed Atsushi by the arm and pulled him close so that he could whisper. "I want to go with just us two."

"We shouldn't leave Q alone."

"...Next time, then."

"Yeah. Next time."

They decided to go to a couple more attractions at the fair before it closed. There was a balloon shop and Q wanted one, so Atsushi bought a bright blue helium balloon for him and tied it around his wrist.

"Thanks, Atsushi," Q said, his oddly shaped eyes gazing with wonder at the simple balloon that threatened to float up into the sky.

"Are we done yet?" Akutagawa said.

"They're starting to close down the rides," Atsushi said. "I guess we can start heading for the exit."

Along the way, they witnessed a boy crying loudly. It looked like he had accidentally let go of his balloon and it had gotten stuck against a roof that was too far up to reach. His parents appeared embarrassed at the boy's outburst and were trying to find some way to get the balloon back down so that the boy would stop crying.

To both Atsushi and Akutagawa's surprise, Q ran towards the crying boy, untied the balloon that was around his arm, and gave it to him instead. Q even tied it around the boy's wrist so that it wouldn't float away this time.

"You're welcome!" Q said to the boy's parents as they thanked him profusely.

"That was quite...unexpected of you," Akutagawa said to Q when he came back.

"What? That boy looked really sad. I didn't really want this balloon, so I decided to give it to him."

"But you said you really wanted a balloon earlier," Atsushi brought up.

"That was earlier." Q flashed his bright, innocent smile. "I don't anymore."

"Still unpredictable, as usual," Akutagawa said. "Q, no one will ever figure you out."

"I don't even have myself figured out."

"That was still really nice of you, Q," Atsushi said. "I'll bring up what you did to our company president tomorrow. Maybe he'll let you go out of the Agency by yourself soon!"

After leaving the fair, Atsushi brought Q back to the Agency, then walked with Akutagawa to the hill that overlooked the river.

* * *

"...As stupid and naive as you are, Atsushi, you're not a bad kisser," Akutagawa said, rubbing his lips.

"Neither are you."

Akutagawa looked somewhat incensed. He probably hadn't expected them to start making out so passionately with each other out in public. Granted, no one was around at this time of day to look at them, but it was still a risky activity to engage in knowing that the Port Mafia had spies everywhere.

Fortunately, Akutagawa was one of the most trusted and feared members of the Mafia. Almost no one bothered to spy on him, knowing what Akutagawa could do to them if they were caught.

"I was thinking..."

"Yeah?" Atsushi replied.

"Remember when I told you about the boy I used to fight with in the slums? The boy whom I could never land a hit on?"

Atsushi gulped, thinking that sounded kind of familiar. "Right?"

"He must have had some kind of a prediction ability. I don't know why I am remembering this now, but I recall that every time I tried to hit him, he would just move naturally out of the way, and some greenish mist would show up where he was before."

"A green...mist?"

"Must've been some kind of poison he kept hidden on him. People who fought him, including me, tended to get sick a lot."

"Oh...I see." Atsushi coughed to suppress the worrying feeling that came over him. "Sure would be terrible if it turned out he had some kind of ability that gave him radioactive powers!"

Akutagawa scrutinized him carefully. "What are you implying?"

"No...just, greenish mist, radioactivity – they kind of go together, don't you think?"

"Ugh. I want to take him on again. He would not stand a chance against Rashomon."

"Yeah, but maybe he has an ability now, too." Atsushi shifted his eyes to look at the ground. "What do you think happened to him?"

Akutagawa shrugged. "Probably grew up and found a job, landed himself in jail, or...he's lurking somewhere within the lower ranks of the Port Mafia now. If I find him..."

"...you'll beat him to an inch of his life?"

"You sound like you want that to happen."

"Ah, maybe. Even I know it's fun to get back at someone you could never beat before."

"Thinking of anyone?"

"Erh...not really."

"I might have to get back at you one day."

"..."

Slowly, Atsushi looked up at the stars in the sky.

What a beautiful night it was.

He turned to face Akutagawa. Atsushi giggled, and they kissed each other again on the lips.

"You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen," Akutagawa said. "That dusk colour, lavender and gold."

"I, uh...didn't expect to hear you say something like that."

"If I were to kill you one day, I'd take care to preserve your eyes."

"You're awful."

Akutagawa leaned towards Atsushi and kissed him on the nose. Atsushi wrapped Akutagawa in his arms, holding him in a tight hug. Akutagawa brushed away Atsushi's bangs and kissed him on the forehead.

They kissed each other on the lips again, tongues touching, wanting to get every taste of the other's mouth. Atsushi couldn't resist the heat and warmth Akutagawa gave him and nearly pushed himself down Akutagawa's throat.

"Ugh! Never mind what I said before. You are terrible at kissing, weretiger."

Atsushi looked away, feeling dejected. "Sorry."

"...Atsushi."

Akutagawa grabbed him by his forearms, holding him, leaning in to kiss him again.

Atsushi hugged Akutagawa tightly, close enough to feel the other's heartbeat.

He looked into Akutagawa's grey eyes, captivated by the light of the moon and the stars that shone in them. A light that came from worlds light years away, yet was grasped by a boy that read books with him in the orphanage's basement library about alien invaders and space heroes, chatting the night away til the light settled down deep inside inside their hearts.

A warm, glowing light that he'd share with Akutagawa, now and forever.


End file.
